


The thought of  you

by CharlotteSays



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2018-10-20 14:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 35,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10664223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteSays/pseuds/CharlotteSays
Summary: Pats&Deels modern Au.They meet at Oxford University.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is unusual! Me writing modern Pupcake. See what ya think, have a look and please comment down below. ;) XOX

Patsy couldn’t believe it. Her whole life so far had led up to this moment, getting accepted into Oxford to study medicine had always been her dream- one she thought was hopeless. Until she had got the letter confirming her place. Then, and only then could she welcome the very exciting idea of “Student Life” a phrase that warranted the over-use of capital letters, after being the only person to be accepted into Oxford in her college.

A series of late nights, extreme pressure and the thought of finally getting her dream job earned her very admirable 4 A* at A level and 6 A* and 2 A at GCSE. This alone was enough to get her into any university, but she didn’t want just any. She wanted Oxford, and so Oxford was what she got. Because Patience Elizabeth Mount was nothing if not determined.

Sat in the back of the taxi she checked her phone, sighing when she saw she had no notifications. Scrolling through her endless Twitter feed was a chore but Patsy had the choice between that or looking out of the window at the countless red-brick houses which seemed so signature to Oxford and its various surrounding areas.

She could feel the nerves in her stomach growing stronger with every passing second as they drove deeper into the city centre. It seemed so different from London, Oxford was so classic, so elegant. The architecture of Oxford was something to be impressed by, especially the large church that they had just driven past, spires so tall they seemed to endlessly stretch into the sky. London was, well, it was modern. Filled with interesting people, but Patsy felt that she would feel more at home here, it felt like she belonged. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she wasn’t about to complain. 

Patsy’s hands were shaking, either with nerves or excitement she couldn’t tell. She thought about her mother, she would have been so proud to see Patsy finally accomplish what she had always dreamed of doing. Her mother and her sister had died in a car accident many years ago, whilst Patsy thought of them everyday, today wasn’t that day. Today she had to be strong, and as selfish as it sounded, she had to think about herself for once. 

She put her phone in her bag, they were nearing the campus and she wanted to see where she would be for the next 4 years. She had wanted to be a doctor since she could remember, always bandaging up her toys and making her sister pretend to be ill so she could “make her better”. That’s why her mother's and sister's death had affected her so much, she couldn’t have done anything to help.

Since that point she had been even more determined to become a doctor, constantly working when she was at Boarding School. Whilst her friends were going out at night, she was revising for her A-Levels. That revision had got her 4 A* and a smooth pass into Oxford though, so it had all been worth it in the end.

As the taxi drove slowly into the campus Patsy’s stomach constricted, nerves always tried to get the better of her but this time she was determined that she would win. As they rolled to a stop Patsy jumped out, quickly paying the driver and grabbing her bags. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the pavement, ready to start this new, exciting stage of her life. Which, would be a lot more exciting if she had any idea where to go. 

She glanced at the piece of paper in her hand, stating her room number and the name of her roommate. “Beatrix Franklin”. Patsy was given the option between a single room and one with a roommate, but she had decided to opt for the double. Purely for the fact that it would be a lot more fun (hopefully) and a lot less lonely compared to her being by herself.

“Look!” She heard a voice cry, “You’ve dropped all my luggage on the floor, I thought you were supposed to help me!” 

Patsy giggled inwardly. She glanced to where she had heard the voice coming from and saw a shorter blonde girl, struggling to pick up all the suitcases that had been dropped everywhere. Patsy was in two minds over whether to help her or leave her, after all the did need to find her room. What would a couple of minutes difference make? She thought, quickly running over to help.

“Thank you sweetie” the blonde woman said, extending out her hand. “Oh! How rude, you’ve helped me with this mess and I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Beatrix Franklin, but everyone calls me Trixie.”

Patsy breathed an obvious sigh of relief, “Well aren’t you just the person I wanted to see!” She laughed. Trixie looked confused as she explained: “I’m Patsy Mount, well Patience Mount but everyone calls me Patsy. We’re roommates!” 

Trixie clapped her hands, “Oh that’s amazing! I thought I was going to have to attempt to find our room by myself, now we can get lost together!” 

They both picked up their cases and walked in the direction that all the other students were headed, it seemed the safest way to perhaps find out where they would be staying. They arrived at what looked like a massive hall, with older students handing out maps and giving directions to anyone that looked lost. Trixie grabbed Patsy’s hand.

“Come on! We can go and ask that guy over there, he looks hot!”

Patsy mumbled what sounded like an approving noise and blushed red. She had no interest in that guy, in fact she hadn’t even noticed him. It’s not that she was ashamed of being a lesbian, not at all, it’s just that she had only just met Trixie and whilst she seemed like she would be OK with it she wasn’t ready to be that open and honest yet. 

After receiving a map and a few instructions from a student on how to get to their room, Patsy turned to find Trixie and realised she was nowhere to be seen. After walking around for a few minutes she finally found her talking to another girl with short brown hair.

“Oh, hey Patsy! This is Barbara, she’s a bit lost and she’s going to be living across the hall from us, with?”

“Um, I think she’s called Delia Busby” Barbara said quietly in what Patsy thought was a Liverpool accent.

“OK, Delia Busby then. Did you manage to find out how to get to the rooms?” Trixie asked.

“Yep.” Patsy said brandishing the map and the instructions written on it. “Are we ready to go?” She asked the other girls.

They nodded in reply, Patsy led the way reading the map whilst trying to figure out if they were headed in the right direction. After endless wrong turns and a lot of confusion they arrived, Patsy smiled when she saw the number on the door. Everything hit her at once when she put the key she had been given in the lock. 

This was her (and Trixie’s) room, they would be living here at Oxford. She felt a heady rush of excitement as she pulled herself together and opened the door, forgetting everyone else for a second, she walked in and looked around. Finding two single rooms, a kitchen, a communal living area and a bathroom she was satisfied. The place could easily be cleaned with a spot of bleach and some water. She thought. Trixie quickly followed her from behind with Barbara bringing up the rear.

“Oh, it’s... Umm, it’s quaint I suppose.” Trixie said brightly, desperately searching for a positive.

“It will clean up nicely and we can put some furniture in here and sort out our bedrooms first!” Patsy said, taking charge.

Trixie quickly nodded, Barbara stood there looking a little lost. 

“Look Barbara, don’t you want to see if your roommate has arrived? Come back in once you’ve sorted yourself out.” Trixie said, with no hint of malice but slight impatience. 

She doesn’t mean to be rude. Patsy thought, She just wants Barbara to sort herself out so we can get started.

Barbara nodded quickly, and with a small smile and a wave, she had headed into the room opposite. 

“Right then!” Trixie said. “Shall we get going?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pats and Deels meet ;).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really appreciate comments about this fic, I'm not too experienced with modern Patsy&Delia, so tell me what you think!   
> XOX  
> (Anyone else write fanfic and listen to 50s&60s music or is it just me? Absolute favourite song at the moment-Once upon a dream by Billy Fury. Gives me The Feels ;) )

Patsy was exhausted, on her hands and knees she scrubbed the wooden floor of their “living area” with a concoction of bleach and water. She had instructed Trixie to go and sort out the kitchen, whilst she had only just met her she was sure they were going to get on very well. Trixie seemed to have a very likeable personality, she connected easily with everyone. She had walked up to Barbara and started to talk to her, as if they had known each other for ages. 

Patsy couldn’t do that, she worried that the person would think she was weird for being so forthcoming. Whilst she seemed brusque and unforgiving on the outside, Patsy was actually quite shy, hating to be the centre of attention for longer than what was absolutely necessary. 

“Is everything alright sweetie?” Trixie called, “Only you’ve been cleaning that same patch of floor for about five minutes!”

“Oh! Yes of course, just lost in my train of thought, I was wondering how Barbara was getting on and whether her roommate has appeared yet.” Patsy said quickly, surprised at how easily the lies were dripping off her tongue..

“Well, if we quickly finish up here we could always go over there and see how she is doing. To be completely honest I think I’ve just about completed the kitchen, we might need to get some essentials tomorrow from the shop but we can see how we go!” Trixie said.

Patsy nodded quickly, “Well we can leave this floor to dry for now, as long as the bedrooms are done and we have somewhere to sleep I’m sure we will be fine. If we need to we can always grab a pizza quickly, just for tonight.” She suggested.

“Well then! Let’s go and find Barbara and see how her and Delia?”

Patsy nodded.

“OK, her and Delia are doing and then we can think about food.”

The two girls walked towards the door, Patsy grabbed her phone and keys before she left, she hated not having her phone with her all the time. She had always been taught that it was good to have it on you at all times, just in case of an emergency. Her mother hadn’t had her phone with her when she was in the accident, that’s why Patsy always made a conscious effort to pick it up and take it with her.

Just in case.

Trixie led the way to the room opposite, Patsy closed their door waiting to hear the resounding ‘click’ as it shut behind her. As Trixie knocked on Barbara’s door Patsy took a deep breath, she was strangely nervous at the prospect of meeting Barbara’s roommate. Get a grip Patience, she told herself, why are you nervous about this?

Barbara quickly opened the door, giving both Trixie and Patsy a wide smile as she did so. 

“Hello Barbara” Trixie said “We had nearly finished in our room, but we got a bit bored of cleaning and so we thought we’d come and see what you were up to.”

No, we didn’t get bored of cleaning, Patsy thought. You did. 

They walked into Barbara’s room, one that was identical to theirs but she obviously hadn’t cleaned it yet.

“Barbara what have you been doing this whole time?”  
Trixie asked in astonishment, “I mean, we’ve cleaned the whole room and sorted everything out. But your suitcases are still on the floor!”

“Well yes, but I wanted to wait for this Delia person to arrive so we could sort it all out together, there’s no point in me trying to clean up by myself when she should be arriving any minute.” Barbara looked at her watch. “Yes, any minute now.”

As if right on cue there was a loud ‘crash’ outside the door.

“Oh, shit!”

Patsy leaped up to help, wrenching the door open she saw a petite brunette with about 3 or 4 suitcases in a heap on the floor. Without meaning to, Patsy began to laugh loudly. She wasn’t sure why, but at that point this girl on the floor with all these suitcases seemed hilarious. Trixie and Barbara had arrived behind her, and looked bemused as both Patsy and the girl giggled hysterically over what seemed like nothing.

“Oh dear!” The brunette said, wiping tears from her eyes. “What an incredible first impression I seem to have made! I’m Delia by the way. Are you Barbara?” She asked Patsy.

“Oh! Sorry no I’m not, I’m living across the hall with Trixie here.” She gestured towards Trixie. “We met Barbara earlier and had finished clearing up the room, so we thought we’d see how she was getting on.” Patsy was rambling and she knew it. 

Barbara stood forward and extended an arm out to Delia who was still on the floor. “I’m Barbara. Do you want any help with that?” She pointed to the mess on the floor.  


"No, it’s OK I’m on the case!” Delia joked weakly. 

Luckily Patsy seemed to find it utterly hilarious and doubled over in laughter causing Delia to do the same. Barbara and Trixie groaned in sync, walking back into the room quickly. 

“Oh dear Delia, you’ve only been here for five minutes and you’ve already reduced me to tears!” Patsy said. “Come on then, we’d better get your stuff inside otherwise you’ll be staying out here for tonight!”

The two girls righted themselves quickly, brushing off the dust from the carpet and picking up the suitcases that were on the floor. Once they got into the room, Patsy looked properly at Delia. She wore a pair of tight black jeans, a purple T-shirt with the slogan “Grl pwr” emblazed in a vibrant gold colour straight across the middle, finishing off her look with a pair of scarlet converses and bright yellow socks. All this colour would normally clash, but Delia seemed to carry it off perfectly- she seemed to have the personality to do so. 

She had long brown hair, tied up in a bun on top of her head and beautiful blue eyes, the sort you could get lost in and an amazing Welsh accent, a soft lilt that made every word sound happier somehow...

Patsy stopped herself, she had experienced this before and it hadn’t ended well. Besides, they had only just met and she was sure that they would be great friends. After all, she had managed to inject a pun into the conversation 5 minutes into meeting everyone.

Trixie and Barbara smiled when they both walked into the room.

“Sorry.” Delia smiled apologetically, “I always laugh when I get really nervous, maybe we should start again?”

Barbara smiled gently, “Honestly Delia it’s fine, we were just thinking though, that we do need to get the room sorted. Trixie said that Patsy and her can help so we can get it done even quicker and then we could order pizza for dinner?”

Hang on a minute, Patsy thought, we’ve just stopped cleaning because Trixie said that she was bored and now we are going to clean someone else’s room!

Delia looked a lot happier at the prospect of food. “Ooh yes that sounds good! I haven’t eaten since we left Pembrokeshire so I’m starving. Let’s get this sorted quickly!”

Patsy couldn’t help but laugh at the eager tone in Delia’s voice, she seemed to be doing a lot of laughing today which could possibly be linked to the small Welsh woman she had met about 10 minutes ago. 

“Come on Patsy!” Trixie called from the bathroom. “We need to start cleaning and as far as I have established, that’s your speciality!”

Patsy smiled at Trixie’s comment as she looked in the cupboard for a bottle of bleach. She wasn’t sure if it was true but she did enjoy cleaning, repeating the same action over and over again without putting much thought into it always seemed to calm her. After her mother and sister had died she did a lot of cleaning, it helped her release all the stress and upset that she had gone through. There was nothing better than aggressively scrubbing the bathtub as a way to release all the pent-up emotions that had resided in her body.

Patsy was exhausted, on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor of the “living area” with a concoction of bleach and water. Except this time, for some strange reason, her mind kept flicking back to the small Welsh woman in the other room. 

She didn’t really mind though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that I'm capturing Pats&Deels in modern form, tell me what you think!  
> P.S. Sorry to anyone who likes pineapples on pizza... ;)

“I’ve ordered the pizza” Patsy called out to everyone as she got of her phone.

Delia stuck her head out from her bedroom, “Triple cheese and pepperoni?” She asked cheekily with a grin.

Patsy rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress the smile that spread across her face. “Yes Delia, and then I got a ham and pineapple for Trixie, chicken for Barbara and the same as you for me.”

Delia gave an approving nod, “Well, I’m glad you have a good taste in pizza toppings. I couldn’t be your friend if you chose something as disgusting as anchovies or tuna on a pizza.”

“Luckily for you, Miss Busby I have no taste for either tuna or anchovies. I mean, it’s almost as bad as Trixie. Pineapples on pizza? Disgusting.” Patsy said.

“Hey! I heard that!” Trixie called from the kitchen “You had better have ordered garlic bread and then I might be able to overlook that comment.”

Patsy nodded quickly, “Of course I did.”

Delia laughed loudly “What sort of human wouldn’t order garlic bread if they were given the chance? I actually said to myself before I left to come here, that garlic bread would be my Student Food. You know, the one food that you constantly live on whilst you’re at university?”

Patsy nodded, “Hey Trixie, what would be yours?”  


“Um, well I’ve always eaten a lot of pasta so probably that. I’ve never really thought about it to be honest.” 

Delia looked at Trixie in horror.

“You mean you’ve never thought about the one food you would absolutely, constantly live on as a student? Patsy you had better have one.”

“As sad as it sounds, I’ve thought a lot about this. It would definitely have to be those penguin biscuit things. I ate so many as a child, I used to smuggle packets of them into the dormitories at school and hide them under my bed.” 

“Oh cool! You went to a boarding school?” Delia asked. “I was stuck in a state school, Mam always refused to pay, to get me into boarding school. She said that I was smart enough to get into a good university without paying loads. I guess, annoyingly she was right.” 

“What subjects are you doing?” Patsy asked.

“Medicine” Delia said, “I really want to become a paediatrician, helping people is all I’ve ever wanted to do. It only occurred to me recently though that it’s the children side of things that really appeals. What about you?”

“I’ve taken medicine as well!” Patsy said, “But I plan to try and become a consultant or a surgeon if that’s possible."

“Well then,” Delia said. “It looks like we’ll be spending a lot more time together!”

Patsy tried to ignore the warm feeling that spread throughout her body, she tried to stop the blush that flooded her cheeks. She failed. And by the look of it, Delia seemed to have noticed her embarrassed state.

“So, who volunteers to come and get the pizzas with me then?” Patsy asked quickly, trying to draw any attention back to the food.

“I’ll come” Delia offered quickly, “As much as I would love to continue sorting out this mess, it would probably do me good to get some fresh air. Being cooped up in a car all day, isn’t exactly my idea of fun!”

“Oh really,” Patsy said “So what is?”

“I could choose to say something now, but I won’t. So instead, I’ll say my hobby which is actually parkour.” She shrugged as if it was nothing.

“What’s parkour?” Trixie asked, walking over to them with her nose wrinkled in distaste. “It doesn’t sound particularly fun to me."

Luckily Trixie had gone over at that precise moment, so Patsy could attempt to ignore what Delia had said. She wondered whether Delia was hinting at something that could possibly be sex, or whether Patsy was letting her imagination run away from her

“Did you just...” Delia looked at Trixie for a couple of seconds. “Did you just ask what parkour was?”

Patsy grabbed Delia’s arm and practically pulled her out the room, “Got to get the pizzas see you in a minute.” She called in Trixie’s general direction as they raced out outside.

Once they got outside Patsy collapsed into giggles. “Your face was a picture.”

They stood there for a few minutes laughing uncontrollably, returning a few puzzled looks from passers-by but at that moment they didn’t care.

“Oh shit! Delia come on, we need to go and get the pizzas, I should imagine Trixie isn’t the friendliest person to be near when she’s hungry. Barbara on the other hand seems like she’s pleasant all the time. I wouldn’t know how to do that!” She admitted quickly.

“Well, you seem really nice so far as well. That view might change if you start asking me what parkour is though.” Delia said, half-joking.

In reality, Patsy had absolutely no idea what the hell parkour was, but after seeing Delia’s reaction to Trixie she wasn’t prepared to ask. Instead making a mental note to research it a bit later, Patsy wasn’t sure why she was making such an effort with Delia especially seeing as she had only just met her. She really was very pretty though, and they would have to be friends if they were going to be seeing so much of each other in classes. 

Patsy always had had a thing for brunettes, Delia seemed different though. Different to anyone she had ever met, Patsy wasn’t sure how it would play out but the one thing she was sure of was the fact that if they didn’t hurry up their food would be cold.

Grabbing Delia’s arm she broke into a run, trying to ignore the electricity that had shot through her fingertips and up her arm when she had made contact with Delia. 

“Patsy for God’s sake slow down!” Delia considered herself to be quite fit but after doing nothing all day she felt quite sluggish and definitely not in the mood for running. 

Running slightly behind Patsy did give the opportunity of looking at her curves, the perfect hourglass figure that was shown off in loose trousers and a white blouse. Clothes that Delia would never in a million years choose for herself, but they seemed to work perfectly on Patsy. Her heels. Wait-heels. Delia looked at the shoes Patsy was wearing, yes she was indeed running in heels. Delia shook off her thoughts as Patsy turned around when they got to the pizza place, her mouth twisted up into a smile when she saw Patsy turn slightly red- as though she knew Delia had been staring at her.

“Come on Pats!” Delia said. “I’m starving.”

Patsy was slightly shocked at Delia calling her that, no one had ever given her a nickname and yet- here she was with a girl she had only met an hour or two ago who was acting as if they had known each other forever.

They collected the pizzas and walked quickly back in a comfortable silence. Once they had got back to Barbara and Delia’s room, they all jumped on the food and devoured it all. Patsy sat across from Delia, her eyes flicking across Delia’s face and then just as quickly looking away.

Delia had noticed her staring though.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of drunkeness, bit of flirting... ;)  
> I'm really enjoying writing this, thank you for everyone that's left me lovely comments it gives me a lot of motivation to continue writing this fic.  
> So tell me what you think of this, and enjoy! :)<3 XX

Delia didn’t mind Patsy staring at her, in fact quite the opposite. As soon as she had seen the stunning, long-legged redhead Delia had been astounded, they had instantly connected and there had been some light, easy banter exchanged between the two of them. Delia couldn’t remember the last time she had noticed someone like that. All her previous relationships had been short-term, lasting a couple of months at the most.

Once all the pizzas had been eaten, Delia went into her room and retrieved a bottle of whisky that she had been given by her parents. At the sight of this, Patsy also jumped up and got a bottle of gin, hidden in her suitcase under all her clothes. She had gotten used to hiding things after years of doing it at Boarding school. Both Delia’s and Trixie’s faces had lit up into a smile when they saw the bottle of contraband in Patsy’s hand.

“Whisky and Gin!” Trixie said, “What an absolute treat!”  
It was only Barbara who didn’t look too impressed by all the alcohol.

“Are you alright Barbara?” Patsy asked, noticing the displeased look on her face.

“I’m a bit embarrassed to be completely honest with you. You see, I’ve never actually had any form of alcohol so I think I’ll be drinking water tonight, I didn’t bring anything else.” 

Trixie looked horrified. “What the fuck do you mean you’ve never had any alcohol before? Why the hell not?”

Barbara looked a bit shamefaced. “I’ve just never been encouraged to. I didn’t used to go out with anyone to drink so I’ve never tried it.”

“Well tonight you’re going to have a drink and get completely shit-faced. What do you think Patsy, Delia?”

“Only if Barbara agrees.” Delia said. 

“Yeah, it’s up to you Barbara." Patsy didn't want to force her into anything.

Barbara slowly nodded. “OK. Let’s do it.”

Trixie jumped up in triumph and grabbed the gin from Patsy. “We’ll start with this.” She said, brandishing the bottle, “And then we can move on to Delia’s whiskey later on. I’m sure I picked up a bottle of wine but I’ll go and have a look in my case later.”

Delia got up and had a hunt around in the cupboard. She couldn’t see any shot glasses so she grabbed a couple of tumblers and poured a small amount of gin into each glass. Passing one to Barbara, Trixie and finally Patsy, deliberately touching Patsy’s hand when she passed it to her.

Delia looked at Patsy over the top of her glass, smiling slowly and deliberately she knocked it back, wincing when she felt the alcohol enter her system. Trixie managed to down it as elegantly as possible, Patsy followed suit. Barbara took much longer, trying to sip it before realising that she was supposed to drink it in one. She hesitated before doing just that, grimacing at the harsh taste of the drink. 

Trixie whooped when she saw that everyone had finished their drinks. “Who’s up for another one?” 

“Trixie we literally only just finished.” Delia protested as Trixie poured a large measure of gin into everyone’s glasses.

“Oh come on Delia. Stop complaining and drink!”

Delia did just that. After all, they didn’t start lectures until Monday so she had a day to recover from the major hangover she was sure to get tomorrow. Delia saw Patsy raise her eyebrows at Trixie as she knocked back her glass within seconds. Delia gave Patsy a quizzical look and received a shake of the head in return. She brought the attention back to Barbara as she sat with a slightly dazed look on her face after drinking her second rather large shot of gin.

“Are you alright Barbara?” Delia asked.

“Mmm. Sure. Can I have another drink?” Barbara asked Trixie, brushing off Delia’s concern.

“Look Barbara, I don’t really think that’s-“ 

“Oh stop Patsy, we said we’d get her shit faced and she’s agreeing with it. Don’t be a kill-joy!”

Patsy shrugged. “I just don’t want Barbara to have the hangover from hell tomorrow if she’s never had any experience with alcohol before.”

Trixie topped up everyone’s tumblers once more, shushing Patsy and Delia as loudly as she could before dumping the bottle of gin on the side with a loud clatter.

“D-you know what? I’m-I’ve only known you guys for like 5 minutes and you’re already mostly, kind of my best friends. I’ve never had a best friend before.” Barbara seemed to be getting more and more emotional by the second. Clearly the alcohol was starting to take it’s toll.

“OH MY GOD YOU GUYS.” Trixie shouted, clearly as drunk as Barbara was. She grabbed the bottle of whisky from the side and splashed a large amount into Barbara’s glass, before adding some into her own. Patsy and Delia exchanged a look, both worried by the amount of alcohol being consumed in such a short space of time.

Barbara suddenly paled, jumping up from her seat she ran into the bathroom. Delia ran after her, she silently cursed Trixie for getting her so drunk on her first day. Luckily her and Patsy hadn't had as much to drink, so they could help as much as possible. 

“Patsy I’m exhausted.” Trixie mumbled.

Patsy considered her options. She could attempt to get Trixie across the hall, or she could put her on Delia’s bed for a couple of minutes and get help later on. She decided the latter would be best, she was sure Delia wouldn’t mind too much. 

“Come on then.” Patsy said, grabbing Trixie’s arm and wrapping it around her shoulders she half carried her into Delia’s bedroom where she collapsed on the bed. Patsy thought about helping her to undress before deciding that taking her shoes off would be enough. Shoving Delia’s duvet on top of Trixie’s slumbering body, she quietly closed the door and exited the room.

“Delia, I hope you don’t mind but I’ve had to put Trixie on your bed for the moment.” Patsy stuck her head round the door, to see Delia rubbing Barbara’s back as she lay with her head in the toilet bowl. Barbara groaned as she finished retching and wiped her mouth. 

“Shall I get the washing up bowl and put it next to her bed?” Patsy asked.

“Um yeah, I think that might be best for the moment. Barbara?” She asked the moaning girl loudly. “Can you get up so we can put you to bed?”

Patsy got the bowl and took it in, just as Delia was putting Barbara to bed.

“If you need to be sick do it in here.” Delia said, pulling the hair back from Barbara’s face she pointed to the bowl and then to the aspirin and glass of water on her bedside table. “And you’ll need these for when you wake up.”

Barbara groaned loudly in response and turned over. Delia walked out to meet Patsy. 

“Is Trixie in there?” She pointed to her bedroom door.

“I’m afraid so.” Patsy said, “We can take her across the hall though.”

“No it’s fine, I can sleep on the sofa in here.” Delia said, hoping that Patsy would invite her to stay in Trixie’s room.

“You can’t do that!” Patsy said. “You can sleep in Trixie’s room, it’s only fair after she’s stolen your room.”

Patsy quickly led the way, opening the door and inviting Delia inside. As they walked inside to their rooms Delia stopped.

“Oh shit! I’ve forgotten my pyjamas. I’d better just go and grab them.”

“No it’s fine, there’s no point in disturbing Trixie. I’ve got loads, you can just borrow a pair of mine.”

Delia blushed slightly at the thought of wearing Patsy’s clothes. “Thank you.”

She said as Patsy passed her a pair of checked pyjamas and got a blue striped pair for herself. She quickly went into her room and got changed, rolling up the arms and the legs as they were slightly too long for her short stature. Patsy came out with her hair loose around her face and pyjamas fitted perfectly to her slender frame, Delia couldn’t help but think how beautiful Patsy looked.

She blushed red as Patsy looked quizzically at her, she had been staring up at her for a few seconds. Patsy blushed a little as well, before muttering ‘goodnight’ and giving Delia a quick hug. The small drink of alcohol she had consumed clearly had made her a little less reserved than she usually was.

Delia peeled back her bed covers and climbed into bed, she didn’t fall asleep though. As stupid as it sounded, her body was still tingling from when Patsy had hugged her. In the next room, Patsy was the same. She thought about just how well their bodies had slotted together, the feeling she got when they had hugged. She thought about Delia staring up at her and blushing when Patsy caught her looking. 

She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the lovely comments from the last chapter have prompted me to hurry up and update so here you go!  
> I hope that this update is OK, tell me what you think ;)<3 XX

Delia could hear something in the distance, opening one eye she peered around the room blearily before realising where she was. She looked at her phone, it was only half past seven! It sounded like there was music coming from somewhere and as much as Delia wanted to stay in the warm nest she had created, she thought that she should get up and see what was going on.

Now, she thought. Would it be better to get up slowly or jump straight out? She remembered the advice her Dad had given her when she was very little and she had to take off a plaster.

“No Cariad, it’ll hurt much more if you try and peel it off. Rip it and it’ll be over ten times quicker.” 

This advice seemed particularly relevant as she decided to brave it and jumped straight out, shivering when the cold air hit her. She opened her door pushing her fringe back from her forehead she stepped out into the kitchen, thankful that it seemed to be much warmer. 

She saw Patsy gently humming under her breath at the song that seemed to be coming from the CD player, perched on the counter. It wasn’t a song Delia recognised, she could tell that it definitely wasn’t modern though, nothing like the indie bands that Delia normally listened to. Patsy was dressed in a pair of high-waisted trousers and a long sleeved, blue shirt.

Patsy jumped a little when she saw Delia standing there, she quickly stopped quietly singing and rushed to turn off the CD player, stumbling slightly in her haste.

“Good morning!” Patsy said brightly, cheeks slightly red as she took in the sight before her. 

“Good morning. It’s very early, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t sleep in until at least eleven!” Delia replied.

“Oh I’m so sorry! I was trying to be quiet but I guess I was louder than I realised. I normally always listen to music if I’m by myself and I’m cleaning, I’m really sorry to wake you though.” She said apologetically.

“It’s fine honestly! You have a very good singing voice.” She winked at Patsy who blushed. “What was that song you were singing? I’ve never heard it before.” Delia asked

Patsy looked a bit embarrassed. “I have a thing for 50s and 60s music. You probably haven’t heard of this guy, you look like someone who’d listen to those alternative indie bands.” 

Delia laughed. “As annoyed as I am to admit it, you’re right. Anyway try me, you never know I might surprise you!”

“Okay then. Ever heard of Paul Anka?” Patsy said quickly.

Delia thought for a minute, she really wanted to say yes and show Patsy that she listened to other music, not just the “indie” bands that she had talked about. On the other hand, if she did say yes Patsy might start asking questions, and Delia would have absolutely no idea on how to answer them. 

“You’re right, annoyingly I haven’t heard of him. You can put that song back on though.” Delia said, winking at Patsy. “I want to hear you sing again.”

Patsy hesitated a little before making her way over to the CD player, turning the music back on and turning it up slightly so Delia could hear it. Delia walked over to the sofa and sat down, listening to the voice of Paul Anka singing.

“It’s called ‘Put your head on my shoulder.’ I just love his voice.” Patsy said. “I think 50s and 60s music is so much more emotive than the modern stuff today.” She shrugged. “It’s just my opinion though.”

Delia nodded. “I kind of see what you mean, I thought you were supposed to be singing though!”

Patsy narrowed her eyes at Delia but she did begin to gently sing in a small, clear voice. Delia thought about how nice it was, she might not win any awards but to Delia it sounded lovely. Mind you, everything Patsy did seemed lovely to Delia.

“I suppose I’d better get dressed and then we can see how Trixie and Barbara are doing.” Delia said silently groaning. As much as she wanted to stay with Patsy, she knew that they needed to see the other two girls. Besides, she couldn’t take over Trixie’s bedroom any longer, she really didn’t want to take off the pyjamas though.

Delia walked quickly back into Trixie’s bedroom, picking her clothes up from the floor she began to get changed. Removing the pyjama top she put her bra on, doing it up round the front and twisting it round to her back. She pulled the straps up and put her T-shirt on before removing her pyjama bottoms and putting her briefs and jeans on. She rolled up the bottom of the trousers before setting about making the bed, once she was done she picked up the pyjamas that had been discarded on the floor and folded them up.

Shutting the door behind her, she walked out to meet Patsy who was waiting for her. Delia gestured to the pyjamas and murmured something about washing them for her, however, in reality Delia had no intention of returning them. Patsy nodded quickly, and opened the door for Delia waiting for her to go across the hall, Patsy picked up her phone and shut the door.

Delia didn’t bother to knock, she had a suspicion that neither Trixie nor Barbara would be up. They would most likely still be asleep or not trying to be sick, after the night they had last night she wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make an appearance until late afternoon the way it was looking. She quietly opened Barbara’s door and saw that the room was pitch-black and there was a slumbering, quietly snoring figure in the bed. 

Meanwhile, Patsy had gone to look in on Trixie and saw that she was asleep as well. There didn’t seem to be any sick anywhere which was good so she quietly shut the door and walked over to Delia.

“Trixie isn’t awake yet, I’ll take it as Barbara isn’t either?” 

Delia nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the two of them didn’t even get up today. Considering Barbara’s never drunk before and Trixie put her straight on spirits, well we’ll see how she’s doing if she ever gets out of bed. I’ll bet you she says the words ‘I’m never drinking again.’ How much?”

Patsy looked thoughtful for a moment. “How about a free breakfast?”

“I suppose that’s fine” Delia winked. “I could really eat that breakfast now though, can we go and look for a cafe?”

Patsy nodded. “Come on then, I’m sure I saw one on the way in.”

They had been walking for a few minutes in a comfortable silence when Patsy said,  
“Why did you come all the way to Oxford from Wales?”

Delia pretended to look affronted, “Do you not want me here?”

Patsy looked shocked “No Delia that’s not what I meant, I didn’t mean it to sound like I don’t want you here, of course I do. I was just wondering.” She was rambling and she knew it.

“Pats, it’s fine I was joking. I came from Pembrokeshire in Wales which had to be the most boring village in the world. Nothing ever happened, I couldn’t have stayed there unless I wanted to turn into my Mam. I didn’t so I looked for a university far enough that I wouldn’t have to go home too regularly but close enough that I could go if it was a complete emergency.”

They walked in silence again for a few moments as Patsy took in what she had just been told.   
“How boring was it?” She asked.

“Very. I never had phone signal or Internet so I just used to read books all the time. Most of them were medical books for my Dad’s study which was why I began to be so interested in being someone in the medical profession.” Delia said.

“Oh, well I’m glad you came here. Breakfast is on me by the way.” Patsy said quickly, pointing to the cafe that they had just arrived at. She opened the door for Delia and then walked in behind her, ordering two bacon sandwiches and a mug of coffee each. 

“No Pats, I can’t let you pay for breakfast this time as well!” Delia grinned cheekily at Patsy who rolled her eyes in response.

“It’s too late, I’ve already paid for it. You can just take me out for a drink another time.” She brought her mug up to her face to try and hide the blush.

Delia nodded. “How about tonight?”  
Patsy took a bite of her sandwich to try and stop the smile that threatened to split her face. She couldn’t believe that Delia had actually responded to her brazen request, Delia grinned back at her and took a sip of coffee, trying to act as nonchalantly as possible.

“That sounds great!” Patsy said, trying to stop herself looking too eager, until she realised that Delia’s face was slightly pink and she was smiling as well. They both finished their sandwiches and drained their coffee before getting up and making their way back to the rooms.

They didn’t go back to Trixie and Barbara they went back into Patsy’s room, sat on her bed and watched a film on Netflix. It was nice just sat there. Patsy wasn’t really watching the screen though, she was thinking about what she could wear when she went out with Delia later. She was thinking about how nice it was just sat there together, she was thinking about how she really liked Delia. 

She was thinking about Delia a lot.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So today all I've done is watch a load of Pats&Deels moments from series 4 onwards and I'm so emotional and I keep crying everytime they go to Gateways and they kiss ohmygod. 
> 
> Anyway, here you go I hope you enjoy this update! ;)<3

Once the film had finished neither girl made any move to get up off the bed, it was so nice to sit there in a comfortable silence. Although they had only met the day before, it felt as though they had known each other forever.

Patsy could imagine a little Patsy and Delia playing in the sandpit at nursery school, holding hands on their first day of primary school, dreading the first day of secondary school. But then she could imagine slightly less pleasant thoughts, like Delia getting her first boyfriend and Patsy feeling overcome with jealousy. She didn’t want to think about that.

Delia sighed and stretched out, rather like a cat. “I really don’t think I can be bothered to get up.” She said, looking at Patsy with a lopsided smile that made her look very cute. 

Patsy smiled. “What time is it?” She said before looking at her phone and answering her own question. “Oh, well it’s only about half one. I suppose we could go and see how Trixie and Barbara are doing, or we could put another film on, or we could go and see if we need any shopping and then buy a load of stuff we don’t need. I’m dying for popcorn.”

Delia nodded. “If I sit here for any longer I’ll fall asleep, I’m sure Trixie and Barbara will be fine sorting themselves out. Buying shit we don’t need sounds good, popcorn and a load of chocolate would surely see us through another film.”

“OK, but this time I’m choosing the film on Netflix. I’ve thought of a good one, you’ll like it trust me!” Patsy grinned earnestly at Delia who burst out laughing.

“What’s wrong with my film choices?” Delia asked, faking indignation. 

Patsy looked at Delia and laughed a little, before sliding off the bed and standing up. She held a hand out to Delia who took it, and pulled her up off the bed as well. Delia giggled as their hands touched and blushed a little as she felt Patsy’s long fingers touch her own. 

She straightened herself up off the bed, before realising that her and Patsy’s fingers were still entwined. 

“Oh sorry!” Patsy said, untangling her fingers and pulling away, a blush slowly seeping across her face. Delia blushed a little as well but then walked through to the kitchen area where they’d left their jackets and shoes.

Delia shrugged on her coat and tugged on her converses, they were slightly too small for her but they had been limited edition when she bought them and she didn’t have the heart to get rid, Delia watched as Patsy put on a pair of high heeled brogues. She stood up without a hint of a wobble and walked over to her coat, pulling it on and opening the door motioning for Delia to go first. Picking up her keys and phone she scribbled a hasty note for Trixie explaining where they had gone, although she was sure that neither her or Barbara would make any appearance before Patsy and Delia came back. 

Patsy smiled brightly at Delia. “Right then, I’ve left a note for Trixie but I’m sure that we’ll be back before they surface.”

Delia nodded and they both made their way outside, pausing in the bright sun. 

“I should have bought my sunglasses out with me!” Patsy said as she took in her surroundings. There were a few students only just arriving, laden down with bags as their parents tried to help them, only to be fought off with a cry of “I can do it myself!” 

They walked for a few minutes enjoying the sun in a comfortable silence, both girls contemplating their thoughts. Patsy really enjoyed Delia’s company, there was no obligation to keep up a constant conversation, it was nice to just be there together. 

“So, Delia when did you decide to try parkour?” Patsy said. She had actually done a little bit of research about it before she went to sleep the night before, she wasn’t sure why she was so keen to impress the smaller brunette but for some reason she was.

“Well as you know I was very bored when I lived in Pembroke and so when I was a little older, 14 or 15 I got my friend Jack to teach me how to do a backflip and it all went from there. I’m not amazing at it, but I do really enjoy the thrill of parkour. I guess you could say that I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie.” Delia shrugged, attempting to appear nonchalant but she couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. 

“Show me.” Patsy said.

“What, right here?” Delia said.

“Yep. As long as you don’t think that you’ll end up breaking your neck or something. We might be training in medicine, but I don’t think I can help you with that.”

Delia grinned. “OK! It’s a good job I put my converses on, as much as I’ve been admiring your brogues I wouldn’t be able to do anything in those.”

Luckily there was a grassy area so the two girls walked over. Patsy stood aside as Delia prepared herself, wiping her clammy hands on her jeans and tucking her hair over her shoulders. Patsy watched on, heart in her mouth, wondering why on earth she suggested this. 

“Look Delia-“ Patsy started.

She didn’t have enough time to speak as Delia flipped over, landing on her feet. Patsy watched, eyes wide, mouth opened in the perfect ‘O’ of surprise. Delia grinned, arms in the air as a finishing pose she looked over at Patsy who was still stood there in surprise.  
“You didn’t think that I was going to do that, did you?” Delia asked.

“I must admit, I wasn’t sure. That was amazing, you made it look so easy!” Patsy said.

Delia blushed, “Thank you. Come on, let’s go and get some food I’m starving!” 

They walked off in search of the shop. Delia looked up at the taller woman and smiled.

“I’ll race you.” She said to Patsy and ran off, hearing the woman’s footprints behind her she laughed and raced ahead. Desperate to beat her.

“Delia!” She heard Patsy shout, she stopped and turned around only to see Patsy run up next to her.

“That was unfair! You got a head start.” She said, running a hand through her hair. “Besides, we are here now anyway.”

Delia looked up and saw the shop. “Oh of course, come on then!” 

The two girls walked into the shop, they quickly got what they were looking for. In Patsy’s case it was a bag of popcorn and some Ben and Jerry’s, for Delia it was a couple of bars of chocolate. Patsy grabbed it out of Delia’s hands and went to the checkout, quickly paying before Delia could protest.

“Patsy!” Delia said as they walked outside. “You can’t keep buying everything!”

“Deels it’s fine, anyway I’ve done it now.”

“Deels?” Delia said.

“Oh, sorry.” Patsy said , looking a little embarrassed. “I don’t normally use nicknames, sorry.”

“No its fine, well more than fine. I was just surprised, no one’s ever called me that before.”

The two girls looked at eachother and blushed.  
“Come on, we’d better hurry up before this ice cream melts.” Patsy said quickly.

They walked back to the rooms, surprised to hear voices coming from Patsy’s room.

“I guess Trixie and Barbara are up then.” Delia said, silently groaning. She had wanted to spend more time with Patsy, although she liked the other two there was something interesting about the red-head and she wanted to find out more about her.

Patsy opened the door to her room to find Trixie and Barbara sitting on the sofa, still in pyjamas looking a little worse for wear. 

“Hello you two!” She said brightly. “We didn’t think you’d be up at all today.”

Trixie shook her head, “Well we are both still feeling a bit groggy but we thought it would be a good idea to get up and see what you two were doing. You obviously weren’t here but we decided to stay.” She noticed Delia. “Oh Delia I’m so sorry for stealing your room last night, I feel awful, it was so rude of me!”

“Honestly Trixie it’s fine, I stayed in yours anyway so don’t worry about it.” Delia replied. “How are you doing Barbara?” She asked the other girl who still looked slightly green. 

Barbara rubbed a hand over her face, “Just exhausted. I can’t believe that I actually got that drunk last night, saying that I can’t believe I’ve never got that drunk before!” 

Trixie laughed, she looked at Patsy and Delia. “We were thinking that we might order another takeaway tonight, are you two up for it?”

Patsy and Delia exchanged a glance. “Um, I said I’d take Patsy out for a drink. You two can come if you want though.” Delia said quickly. Patsy looked at Delia, maybe tonight wasn’t what she thought it was.

“Thanks for the invitation.” Barbara said, “But I’m never drinking again.”

Patsy and Delia looked at each other and burst out laughing. “You owe me a breakfast.” Delia whispered to Patsy. 

Trixie looked at Patsy and then at Delia in turn, “What are you two laughing about.?” She asked. “It doesn’t matter.” Delia said, still giggling behind her hand. She looked at her watch. “Oh, it’s half past three, we must have taken longer than I thought!” “Do you want to put on a film?” Patsy asked. “Trixie? Barbara do you want to watch it as well?”

They nodded, Patsy led the way into her room and sat on the bed patting the spot next to her for Delia. Delia smiled and sat down, tucking her legs underneath Patsy’s, trying to stop the blush that hit her cheeks as they made contact. Then Trixie and Barbara joined them and the moment was lost, it was nice though, all of them there together, all friends watching a film. Patsy grabbed the remote and chose a film, not letting anyone see. 

“My very good choice of film.” She stared pointedly at Delia who giggled. “Is ‘The Theory of Everything.’ I’ve watched it so many times.”

She pressed play and they all settled down, ready to watch. Delia put her hand down on the bed, not realising Patsy’s was already there. She quickly pulled away but not before marvelling at Patsy’s soft skin, she blushed in the darkness before attempting to turn all her attention back to the film. 

She was too busy thinking about Patsy though.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who got bored of work and decided to write another chapter? This gal.
> 
> I've just been thinking about how nice this fandom is, everyone's so lovely and there's amazing fics about vintage lesbians. What more could you ask for? But seriously, everyone's so supportive of each other and I love it. 
> 
> OK, here you go :)<3  
> (Disclaimer: I DON'T HATE THE NAME PATIENCE ELIZABETH MOUNT)  
> OOh, fun fact: I saw one of these "hit paste in the comments" things on instgram and I was so ready to do it AND THEN THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER WAS THERE, so I didn't.

The ending credits for the film rolled up the screen as Patsy turned on the light, blinking in the sudden brightness. Delia pulled her legs from under Patsy, wincing as she felt pins and needles in her feet. Trixie and Barbara looked half-asleep as they continued to gaze at the screen even though there was nothing there. 

“Guys?” Delia asked, waving a hand in front of their faces. 

They both jumped and looked at Delia. Barbara ran a hand through her short hair, looking at Trixie and seeing that she didn’t seem half as ill as her. Then again, Trixie probably drank quite often and Barbara had never drunk before. She was quite proud of that. 

“Amazing film choice Patsy, it’s been fun but I might go and have a sort through my things if you two are going for a drink.” Barbara said.

“Make that three.” Trixie said, looking at Patsy and Delia. “Don’t worry you two, I won’t drink anywhere near as much as yesterday. “

Patsy was slightly annoyed at Delia for inviting Trixie and Barbara, but at the same time it probably hadn’t been anything like a date in the first place. It was just a drink with her friend before, it was just a drink with two friends after. All the same, Patsy still felt upset about the fact that it wasn’t just her and Delia. 

“Oh, OK.” Barbara said, looking slightly despondent at the prospect of spending an evening alone.

“Barbara why don’t you just come with us?” Patsy said. “It’ll be the three of us there anyway and you needn’t buy any alcohol. Just get a lemonade or something, we can book a taxi.” She stared a Delia for a little too long, just to make a point. Patsy didn’t want to be too obvious that she thought it had been a date, after all she didn’t even know if Delia liked women in that way. She was just slightly pissed off.

“I suppose you’re right, OK then, that sounds great!” Barbara said with more enthusiasm. 

Trixie clapped her hands together. “I’d better go and get ready then! I can’t go out looking like this.” 

The alcohol-induced daze had clearly gone, and in its place was an even more determined Trixie. Patsy decided that as much as she liked Trixie, she wasn’t prepared to be out-shone by the blonde. Delia looked slightly confused by all the fuss. 

Barbara nodded, “I will as well.” She said, slipping out of the room after Trixie.

“I suppose I should go and get changed then, I don’t want to be looking scruffy next to the impeccably dressed Miss Patsy Mount!” She grinned cheekily, before adding: “That would have worked a lot better if I knew your full first name. What is it?”

“Miss Delia Busby, if you guess and get it right I’ll tell you.”

“How can I trust that you’ll actually tell me?” She said, looking at Patsy suspiciously.

“I promise that I’ll tell you. You’ll just have to take my word for that.” She replied, smiling at Delia.

“OK. Well. There’s Patricia, Patrice, Patience and Cleopatra.” She said counting on her fingers. “We can rule out the last one straight away, you are in no way a Cleopatra. I’m going to say no to Patrice and Patricia is very similar to that. I guess it’ll have to be Patience. In fact, I bet that’s right. You seem like a Patience.” She said, looking at Patsy expectantly, a grin slowly tugging the corners of her mouth.

Patsy laughed. “Incredible detective work. Yes my full name is Patience Elizabeth Mount, pretty ghastly I know but you can blame my parents for that.” 

She looked down suddenly, visibly gulping. The fact her mother wasn’t alive anymore always hit Patsy when she least expected it. She willed herself to stop, to paste a smile on her face and look at Delia. When she did however, she almost started crying. Delia was looking at her, visibly concerned. Her eyes which normally were a light blue, seemed darker somehow. Patsy had never known someone to communicate what they were feeling with their eyes. 

The moment was lost as Trixie walked in.

“Come on you two! We don’t want to be late.” She said, hands on her hips.

“If you want to talk to me later, you can.” Delia said softly looking up at Patsy.

Patsy nodded and looked down at her hands, Delia sighed and walked out of her room.

“What was that all about?” Trixie asked Patsy with a confused expression.

Patsy shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s fine. Come on then I thought you wanted us to hurry up!”

Trixie looked as if she was about to say something more but then walked to her room, leaving Patsy alone. She shut her door and sat down on the bed, wiping her eyes and putting on her brave face. Opening her suitcase she picked out a knee-length, emerald green flared dress, winged eye-liner and some ruby red lipstick that completed the look. Patsy had decided some time ago that her style must have been influenced by her music choices, her clothing certainly seemed to be based on the 1950s. Her collection of swing dresses, slacks and button-up shirts definitely looked similar to some of the pictures she had seen of women in that time period. 

Her hair however was another matter, it had a natural curl which did look very pretty, but got a bit boring after a while. Patsy sighed and pulled out her hair straighteners, getting to work on the kink that had come from leaning her head on the wall whilst she had been watching the film. She thought about how Delia had tucked her legs under Patsy’s without a second thought.  


Patsy sat, lost in her thoughts. Forgetting that the straighteners were still hot she grabbed them, burning her hand on the heat. 

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” She cried, running to the tap to bathe her hand. Patsy didn’t cope very well with pain, both mentally and physically. Trixie, hearing the commotion rushed in behind her. 

“Are you alright Patsy?” She asked, turning the taller girl around. She instantly saw the tears that had formed in Patsy’s eyes. 

“I just burnt my hand on the straighteners. It’s fine.” She said.

“It doesn’t look alright to me. Your hair looks fabulous though, so that’s one good thing you got out of it!” Trixie said brightly, desperately trying to make light of the situation.

Patsy half giggled and half sobbed, trying desperately to stop crying. “My hand doesn’t hurt that much.”

“So what’s happened then?” Trixie asked. “Is it something to do with what Delia was talking about earlier? You can always come to me as well.” 

Patsy smiled, grateful for the friends she had only met the day before. “I’ll be fine in the minute, I just need to calm down.” 

Trixie looked at her, eyes full of concern. “If you’re sure. I’ll just wait out here for you then. Oh! I’ll just go and turn off those straighteners, it wouldn’t be good if we started a fire on the second day!”

Patsy watched as Trixie left the bathroom, wiping her eyes with a shaky hand she took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. Luckily her make up wasn’t ruined by the impromptu crying session but her eyes were looking a little puffy, grabbing some concealer that Trixie had luckily shoved on the side, she smeared it under her eyes and blended it in. 

It would pass, she thought to herself. She took another deep breath and walked out of the bathroom, to find Trixie waiting for her. Patsy smiled and grabbed her coat and heels. Trixie looked stunning in a red dress, scarlet heels and lipstick. She looked Patsy up and down and nodded, showing her appreciation. 

“Does it look alright?” Patsy asked, suddenly worried. 

She always knew that her clothes were slightly  
outlandish but chose to call it ‘vintage.’ Patsy wanted to make sure that Delia didn’t think she was completely weird for her clothing choices. For some reason Patsy was very keen to impress Delia.

“It looks amazing. I love the dress! It goes perfectly with the hair!” Trixie was the epitome of enthusiasm, compliment after compliment washed over Patsy. It was nice, she thought, to have someone tell you how beautiful you looked. Now all she needed was to see Delia, Trixie had given her enough courage. 

“You look amazing as well.” She said sincerely to Trixie, returning the compliment. 

She opened the door and walked out into the hall to see Delia and Barbara coming out of their room. She noticed Delia before Barbara. Delia’s deep purple dress came just above her knee, it had thin straps and she wore a pair of black ankle boots. In true Delia style she had a cropped black leather jacket and a hint of lipstick, not enough to be obvious but noticeable if one was looking at her lips for a long period of time.

Patsy was.

Barbara came out a beat behind. Her black skirt and burgundy top pleasant enough, but she wasn’t as eye catching as Delia. Patsy took out her phone, ordering them all a taxi and insisting that she would pay for it. She could barely keep her eyes off Delia, sat across from her in the taxi, legs touching every time they went over a pothole in the road. She was in a considerably better mood after seeing Delia, any earlier upset forgotten. 

They eventually got to the bar where they ordered a bottle of wine for Patsy, Delia and Trixie and a lemonade for Barbara who still couldn’t stand the thought of alcohol. After a very enjoyable evening and a couple of bottles of wine, the four girls walked outside chatting. Delia linked arms with Patsy as they stood waiting for the taxi, Patsy could feel the warmth radiating off Delia, thankful for it in the chilly air. 

Once they had got back to the rooms, they all exchanged a ‘good night’ and went into the bedrooms. Delia got changed into the pyjamas she had stolen from Patsy, they still had traces of her perfume clinging to the fibres. Patsy wiped off her makeup and got changed still smiling from the laughter they had shared that evening. 

She had really enjoyed the evening, she was determined that next time it would just be her and Delia though.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another update ;). 
> 
> I've been writing these chapters as I want to update and I have no beta reader so apologies if it seems a bit rushed.
> 
> <3 XX

Patsy saw her alarm go off before she heard it, the bright phone screen illuminating the dark room. She cursed as it started to play music loudly and grabbed it to turn it off, sighing she leant back slowly, revelling in the warmth of her bed before swinging her legs out of bed and sitting up, head spinning as she did so. She quietly opened the door trying not to wake Trixie, her lectures didn’t start until a while later, so Trixie earned an extra hour or two in bed. 

Patsy grabbed a headache pill and a glass of water, she could feel a slight migraine coming on and she really needed to stay focused in the lectures. Creeping into the bathroom she turned on the hot water and stripped, ready for a shower. Once she got under the warm water she felt marginally more human, washing her hair and body as quickly as she could.

It was important she made a good first impression and that meant no smudged makeup or slightly crumpled clothes, wrapping a towel around herself Patsy grabbed her pyjamas and made her way back to her bedroom.

Sighing she searched through her clothes before deciding on a pair of upturned trousers and a loose shirt, her hair was another matter. She winced as she looked at the burn on the side of her hand and winced again as she thought of the breakdown she had had just before going out. Putting it to the back of her mind, going through the motions that her therapist had taught her, just after her Mother and sister had died.

His slow voice had always made her feel even more upset about it each time. 

“Now Patience,” He would say, accentuating each letter. “If you ever have any thoughts that make you feel upset or uncomfortable I want you to do this: Take that thought and push it into the box at the back of your mind. Then lock it, and get rid of the key.” He had then droned on about the importance of talking to him, not that she would have wanted to. With his balding head and slightly too large suits, he looked like a less rich Alan Sugar.

As much as Patsy hated to admit it, that advice had helped on numerous occasions. For the £200 pounds her Father had spent on each session, it was important that she got something out of it. Even if that something was trying to block everything out, Patsy did that best.

Well, she thought she had but recently Patsy had started to feel slightly more sensitive than normal about everything, she supposed that it was because she had moved from Boarding school – from the place where she had spent a lot of her childhood. As much as she had hated it then, a big fish in a small pond and all that, she was now a miniscule fish in an endless sea.

It would be hard, but Patsy reckoned she was up to the challenge.

Blow drying her hair, she twisted it up into a half-up half-down bun on the top of her head. Patsy contemplated the idea of toast, but eventually decided against it. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves and she didn’t want to try and choke down a piece of dry toast – they didn’t have any butter in the house.

Sighing, she got out her make-up bag quickly applying a couple of coats of mascara and brushing her teeth before applying a layer of red lipstick. She smiled, smacking her lips together trying to get an even coverage. Slipping on her brogues, she grabbed her phone and keys and quietly shut the door before going across the hallway to Delia and Barbara’s room. Knocking quietly on the door, she heard someone shuffling around before Delia opened it.

She grinned when she saw Patsy. “Hello Pats! Two seconds, I just need to put my tights on.”

Patsy looked Delia up and down, taking in the black skater skirt and striped T-shirt that she was wearing.   
Delia saw her looking and grimaced. “Does it look alright? I wasn’t sure what to wear but then I found this.”

Patsy smiled. “You look lovely Deels. Now come on, we don’t want to be late!”

“Oh of course! “ Delia snapped out of the trance she was in, she stopped herself from staring at Patsy and fought to keep the blush that was spreading across her face, from getting any redder. 

Grabbing her tights, Delia held onto the side of the sofa to steady herself as she pulled them on. She wasn’t fond of tights – or skirts for that matter, but she didn’t want to look scruffy in the skinny jeans and band T-shirts that she usually wore. She was at Oxford University for God’s sake.

As her Mother would say, “You have to dress to impress.” And Delia most definitely did want to impress. She didn’t want anyone thinking that she wasn’t worthy of a place, just because she hadn’t gone to a school like Patsy’s. Delia had been perfectly happy where she had been educated, she had passed and Delia was proud of that fact. Her parents hadn’t had to shell out thousands of pounds when she had been able to get the grades for herself. 

Delia realised that she had been stood there, lost in thought, staring at Patsy all the while. She flushed and looked at the floor, before grabbing a pair of black ankle boots and her coat, which contained her keys and phone. Scribbling out a quick note to Barbara, explaining that she’d be back later and that her and Patsy might go shopping. 

Patsy covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a yawn. Looking at what Delia was writing she realised she hadn’t left Trixie a note. “Oh, do you suppose I should go and leave Trixie a quick note? I didn’t think about that sort of thing.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, she’ll know that you’ve got lectures and if she comes in here to see Barbara then she’ll find out about it from her anyway.”

Patsy nodded. “I suppose so, come on let’s go then.”

They left as quietly as possible, which turned out wasn’t very quiet when Patsy stepped on Delia’s toe by accident and Delia pushed her in the ribs. This resulted in Patsy nearly falling down the stairs had Delia not caught her. They both erupted into a fit of giggles, before shushing eachother and making their way outside. 

“Ugh what even is the time?” Patsy asked.

Delia looked at her watch. “It’s half past eight.” She said, looking up at Patsy.

“The lecture doesn’t start till ten o’clock. We have an hour and a half to fill, I didn’t realise it was this early.”

Delia looked thoughtful. Then she grinned cheekily. “Well, you owe me another breakfast so why don’t we go to that café we, well you, bought breakfast at the other day.”

Patsy nodded. “Lead the way Miss Busby.” She said, drawing further within her coat, hands in her pockets as the chilly winds began to blow against the two girls. 

“And let’s go quickly, it’s suddenly got very cold.”

Delia saluted Patsy, receiving a gentle nudge for her cheekiness. They walked down the road together, the perfect companions. One girl, tall, with long legs and stunning red hair. The other girl, shorter with long brown hair, falling around her shoulders. If someone was to really look at the two girls then they would see that they looked like more than friends, the occasional glances from one girl to another that lasted a second longer than what was necessary, the flushed faces that blushed an even darker red when they made contact with each other. 

“Come on Pats!” Delia called, opening the door to the café.

Patsy walked up the steps, thanking Delia as she walked inside. She went over to the till and ordered what she had the last time they were there - two bacon sandwiches and two coffees. She paid quickly and took her seat opposite Delia who smiled at her as she did so.

“How interesting do you think this lecture will be then Pats?” Delia asked in her soft, Welsh voice. 

“We’ll have to see, I can’t say I’m not excited but I need to eat some food before I can even think about learning anything.”

They sat there talking, thanking the waitress when she gave them their sandwiches. They ate them quickly before drinking the coffee and walking to the hall where their lecture was taking place. Taking two seats at the back of the hall, they watched as it slowly began to fill up with more students. Suddenly, a short ginger woman sat down next to them, talking in an earnest voice as she introduced herself.

“Oh hello! I’m Winifred, isn’t this great? What are your names?” 

There were so many questions, Patsy stared blankly at her for a few moments before recovering.

“Hello. I’m Patsy and this is Delia. Hopefully it won’t be too boring.” They all laughed gently as they saw some people turn around to see what was going on. Suddenly, the Professor began to speak, as they all sat there taking notes and feigning interest Patsy saw a small piece of paper land on her notebook.

It read. You’re right, this is very boring. What is he actually talking about? Can we go over this afterwards? D x

Patsy grabbed her pen. 

I’m always right ;). I’m not sure but we’ve got the notes we can surely fathom it out later. P x

They continued writing notes back and forth until the lecture ended and Delia shoved it into her book. Saying a quick goodbye to Winifred who typed her number into each of their phones, they made a swift exit and walked quickly back to their rooms. 

Patsy groaned as she fell face down onto her bed without taking her shoes off. “That was mentally and physically exhausting. I didn’t understand anything.”

Delia grabbed all their notes. “Come on then, let’s have a look through.”

The two girls stayed like that, slowly working through everything when they heard Trixie and Barbara walk in, laughing at something.

“Hello you two, we’re in here.” Patsy called. 

They popped their heads round the door

“How was your lecture?” Trixie asked them

“Long, boring and it didn’t make much sense. We’re just trying to go through it now.” Delia said. 

“Thank God it wasn’t just us!” Trixie said, high-fiving Barbara. Looking at Patsy and Delia’s confused faces she went on to explain: “English Studies was ghastly, we could barely hear a word the Professor was saying and so we need to catch up on some notes as well. I think we’ll do it in my room.” She said to Patsy before her and Barbara sauntered off into the other room.

Delia and Patsy looked at each other before raising their eyebrows and looking away. They both went to turn the page and their hands brushed accidently, Patsy jumped back as though she had been scalded before turning red. She felt like a bit of an idiot for reacting like that. She shook her head and looked at Delia who was looking at her, a slightly amused expression on her face. 

Patsy blushed again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO.MUCH.DIALOGUE.
> 
> This is just a filler chapter, but I needed to do something after watching all of series 6 Pupcake moments and crying for about half an hour. (Thank you to HospitalCorners for uploading them onto vimeo. Fave person ;).)
> 
> Here you go, sorry if it's full of mistakes I haven't got beta or proof read it so just point anything out so I can edit it. Enjoy! <3 XX

Delia stretched out her legs on the bed, accidently nudging all the notes on the floor. Patsy looked on in horror as every single piece of revision that they had created over the last two hours tumbled onto the floor, Delia couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on Patsy’s face as she attempted to catch everything. And failed.

They both sighed simultaneously before jumping to their feet, bending down and picking up all the fallen papers. Delia grinned at Patsy who rolled her eyes and tried to suppress the smile that threatened to creep across her face, they sat there for what felt like ages, looking at each other. Suddenly, Patsy’s phone went off and she leapt up to see what it was, breaking the moment. 

“It’s from Winifred.” She said, looking down at the screen.

“What does it say then?” Delia questioned, still looking at Patsy who seemed determined to keep staring at her phone. 

“Oh. It says: ‘Hello it’s Winifred, you know – from the lecture earlier? I was just wondering whether the two of you wanted to go through some of the notes, I’m a little stuck on some of it. Message me back. :)' What shall I do?” Patsy asked, finally looking up at Delia and biting her lip in a way that Delia found extremely sexy.

“It’s entirely dependant on what you think, although I suppose we should show her what we’ve done – it might make the work a little easier if we have someone else on side as well.” Delia said, as much as she wanted it to just be Patsy and her the work was quite tricky and Winifred seemed like she’d be good company – if a little excitable

“I suppose it would be a good idea.” Patsy said reluctantly. “OK, I’ll say: ‘Hi Winifred it’s Patsy, if you wanted to come and do some revision Delia and I are in room H12.’ Is that alright?” 

Delia looked at Patsy and then at the phone before laughing. “Neither of you seem to have got the hang of abbreviating words on text messages have you?”

Patsy pretended to look offended. “Just because I speak like an intellectual when I text doesn’t mean you have to make fun of me! I’ve sent it now anyway.”  
She looked at Delia again who raised her eyebrows and laughed at the way Patsy was holding her phone protectively to her chest. 

“I bet you’ve never, ever used text speak in your life.” 

She said, trying to grab Patsy’s phone who held it way above her head. Delia jumped up, arms outstretched, top exposing her stomach as she tried to snatch the phone out of Patsy’s hand.

“Delia you can’t reach it and you know it. Just accept the fact that you are shorter than average and therefore cannot reach above my head.” She said, looking down and nodding.

“Never. And I’m not shorter than average, you are just extraordinarily tall.” She retorted, nodding her head back at Patsy who grinned at the outburst from the smaller woman. Patsy flopped back onto the bed still holding the phone, she patted the spot next to her for Delia to sit down. Just as they got comfy they heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in.” Patsy shouted from the room, they heard the door open and Winifred’s voice call out. 

“Where are you?”

“We’re in here.” Both Patsy and Delia called at the same time as they saw Winifred’s mane of ginger hair poke round the door with her bright, excitable face following afterwards. 

“Hi you two! How have you been? That lecture was really hard, wasn’t it? How much revision have you done? Can I see it?” Each question was followed with no pause for an answer, she didn’t take a breath as the endless stream of one-sided conversation continued. Patsy and Delia exchanged a glance with each other as they realised that it was going to be a very long afternoon.

“Delia, Winifred, do you want a coffee or a tea?” Patsy asked, giving herself the perfect excuse to get away from Winifred’s endless chatter, as nice as the girl seemed she was very happy to turn everything into a long winded conversation. 

“A coffee would be lovely if you’re making one.” Delia said, understanding instantly what Patsy was doing, she didn’t entirely blame her either. Winifred was a very testing person, it took a lot of patience to continue to talk and not just give up. To be completely honest, Delia was sure that if she did stop talking, Winifred would be able to carry on with herself.

“Oh, just a tea for me. Thank you. I’ve never really liked coffee, it doesn’t really agree with me. I can only ever drink one of those skinny lattes when I go to places like Starbucks or Costa. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I went there, we should go sometime. I’m sure there’s one on the campus.”

“Sounds good. I’ll just go and make these and then we can start going through all the notes then!” Patsy said, trying very hard to paste a smile on her face at the sound of the life story that appeared to be coming out of Winifred’s mouth. She quickly walked out of the room and used the kettle boiling as an excuse to go and see what Trixie and Barbara were doing. 

“Hello you two.” She said, popping her head round the door. “What are you up to?”

“Are you alright Patsy? We’re just sorting our notes into these folders. Have you got someone else round? Only we heard a lot of rather loud talking, well really it was kind of shouting, but we didn’t think it would be you or Delia making that much noise.” Trixie said, looking at Barbara and then at Patsy.

“Sorry! We met a girl earlier at the lecture but she’s very excitable and she just keeps talking constantly.” Patsy replied in a low whisper, to avoid Winifred from hearing any of the conversation. “I should have told you really, I just didn’t think she’d be quite so noisy – after all we are only going through our notes, it’s really not as exciting as she’s making out.”

Trixie giggled at this as Patsy realised that the kettle had boiled, she quickly walked out the room waggling her fingers at the two girls as she left. Pouring out two coffees and a tea, she wondered whether to put sugar in Winifred’s mug, before shrugging her shoulders and dumping a spoonful of it in there anyway. Grabbing the three mugs, she walked back into the room seeing Winifred still talking and Delia trying to look interested. She stifled a giggle and put down three coasters before taking her coffee and having a long sip, wincing as the hot liquid scalded the back of her throat.

“Come on then you two, let’s look through these notes and see what we don’t understand. Take a highlighter each and we can label everything we aren’t sure of, everything we definitely don’t know and everything we do know.” Patsy said, taking charge.

Delia saluted her, grabbing a highlighter and recieved a gentle kick in return for her cheekiness. She giggled at Patsy’s mock stern look before coming to her senses and taking everything she needed. Passing a sheet to Winifred and then Patsy, she scanned down the page.

“God, it’s like being back at school isn’t it?” Delia said in surprise. “I’ve got to say, as much as I expected it to be work, I thought it would be a little less serious than this.” 

Patsy looked at her. “Delia. We’re one lecture in and you’re already complaining. Get highlighting.” She commanded, before looking at Delia from under her lashes and slipping her a quick smile to show that she was joking. 

Winifred watched this exchange before trying to pretend she hadn’t seen anything and focusing her mind into everything she didn’t understand, which, to be completely honest was most things on the sheet. She wasn’t sure whether she had been awake for the lecture but one thing was for sure – she hadn’t been listening as carefully as she thought she had. The majority of the revision sheet was stuff she didn’t understand, the same with Delia’s.

Patsy on the other hand, seemed to have understood everything as soon as she heard it. Mumbling under her breath as she skim read the sheet, finger pointing at all the words she wasn’t sure of. There was barely any. Both Winifred and Delia looked on in amazement as Patsy finished highlighting and slotted the cap back on to the pen, before holding up her sheet and gesturing for the others to do the same. 

“I reckon you could become our own private tutor Pats!” Delia said as she looked in surprise from Patsy to the notes. “You’ve understood pretty much everything, you can teach us all the stuff now! We know you’re smart after you could listen to that lecture and absorb all the information whilst Winifred and I were struggling to take in a word that was said!”

Patsy blushed at all the compliments that were flowing out of Delia’s mouth, she looked in turn at Delia and then at Winifred’s earnest face and saw just how surprised they were at her. 

“Well of course I will help, just tell me what you need."

A chorus of voices began talking, pointing out what they didn’t understand. The soft, Welsh lilt of Delia and the slightly harsher voice of Winifred. Eventually, after what had been a straining couple of hours for Patsy, Winifred went back to her room mate who was apparently called Cynthia. 

“Very quiet but she seems sweet from what I can gather so far.”

Finally Patsy and Delia were left alone. They looked at each other and saw the tiredness reflected in each other’s faces. 

“Come on, let’s see what Trixie and Barbara want for food, I’m starving.” Delia said, jumping off the bed and exchanging a hand out to Patsy who took it.

“You’re always starving.” Patsy mumbled, following after Delia. Who turned around at the sound of her voice.  


"Huh?” She looked at Patsy with a questioning look on her face.

“It doesn’t matter.” Patsy said, looking at the floor before traipsing into where Trixie and Barbara were.

“Pizza?” Delia asked everyone.

“Pizza.” Came the reply.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a shorter chapter, basically I thought I was a bit harsh on Mrs B in my other fic "I want you with me" so I decided to be a bit nicer this time.
> 
> I'm still distraught by the news about Pupcake and my thoughts are with everyone affected by the awful attack on Manchester.
> 
> Really hope you enjoy this chapter, tell me what you think and if there are any glaring errors so I can change them. Enjoy! <3  
> {Here ya go Steph ;)).} XX

Delia rolled over, groaning as she heard the harsh sound of her phone ringing. Glancing at her alarm clock she saw that it was half past nine. There was only one person who would ring her this early.

“Hello Mam.” She said wearily.

“Good morning Cariad! You could try and sound a little happier to see me, it is after all half past nine you should be up and about! Remember I told you not to lie in for too long , it wastes the day.”

Delia had spent years waking up at the crack of dawn with her parents, years of walking around the house half asleep and trying not to fall down the stairs with exhaustion. 

“Mam that’s the point, it’s only half past nine I don’t have to get up at a ridiculously early time any more. Besides you haven’t even asked me how it’s going yet.” Delia sighed, flopping her head back onto the pillow and raising her eyes up to the ceiling. 

“Alright Delia, I was just getting to that. How are you? How is your roommate? Have you met anyone yet?”

Surprisingly Delia’s Mam had always been fine with her being a lesbian, she understood that Delia would never be interested in boys and one day she would find someone very special. Both Mrs Busby and Mr Busby were only concerned with Delia’s happiness and as long as she found someone, male or female, who made her feel comfortable within herself then they couldn’t care less.

“In answer to your questions, I am fine thank you, my roommate is called Barbara and she seems really nice and I have met a couple of other people but it’s not like that Mam before you start thinking.” Delia rolled her eyes at her Mother’s sigh that echoed down the phone. 

“You know what I meant Cariad, and I also can tell that you are lying . So come on, who have you met and who do you actually like?” Her Mam’s impatience was obvious to Delia.

“I’ve met 3 other girls, Winifred who I don’t know very well, Trixie who lives across the hall from us and Patsy who is in all my lectures.” Delia’s long pause after Patsy’s name was enough to make her Mam suspicious.

“So tell me more about Patsy then.” She said quickly. 

Delia frowned at the phone next to her ear, before remembering that her Mam couldn’t actually see her facial expressions.

“Well there’s not really much to tell, she’s got ginger hair but I suppose it’s more a red or auburn colour. She’s quite tall, oh! And she’s obsessed with the 1950s and 60s which is quite funny because she listens to all the music and wears clothes like that. She sounds quite posh but she’s actually really funny.” Delia stopped herself from going any further, she knew as soon as the first word had come out of her mouth that she had said too much but she couldn’t stop herself.

She heard her Mam laugh down the phone. “I thought you said that there wasn’t much to tell about her? It sounds like you have plenty to say!”

Delia flushed red even as her Mam was speaking to her. “Well it doesn’t matter anyway, I’m happy being friends and I only met her a couple of days ago, that’s a bit forward even for you!” Delia had heard the story of her Dad proposing to her Mam within a month of being together, it had surprised her that her Mam said yes but apparently it was ‘love at first sight.’ 

If that was even real.

“If you’re sure Cariad, do you want to speak to your Dad? I can smell the toast that he’s attempting to grill burning.” She heard her Mam reaching for a tea towel and swatting at the smoke alarm which Delia could faintly hear beeping down the phone at her. She heard the cry of her Dad’s name and then heard his gruff voice at the other end of the line.

“Hello sweetheart, how are you?” He asked, quickly walking away from the incessant noise of the alarm.  
“I’m fine, how are you?” Delia answered, suddenly missing her quiet Dad and her Mam who made enough noise for all three of them.

“I’m doing alright, just been outside in the garden making sure that the weeds don’t try and take over those petunias I grew.” He was most animated when talking about his latest gardening adventure, her Mam often said that it was the only way that they could ever get a word out of him.

“What’s been happening in the village then, anything exciting?”

Delia was sure that nothing would have happened, it rarely did. Pembrokeshire was such a quiet area so there were never any major events or occasions unless you count the weddings that sometimes took place in the local church. Both her Mam and Dad were Christians and they had always tried to make Delia go to church when she was younger, when she was more grown up though they understood just how much she hated the long preaching sessions that numbed her brain and made her eyes nearly fall back into her head with boredom.

“Not unless you count little Lucy getting engaged to a Navy Officer. You haven’t missed out on much don’t worry Cariad, we’d soon tell you if anything important happened, well your Mam would, you know how much she loves the gossip.” 

Her Father was soft spoken as always, he reminded Delia of a gentle giant, never one to scold or slap but always the one to give comfort and advice. Her Mam was always the one to avoid if something naughty had been done, she was the punishment giver and wasn’t shy of giving out a quick slap of prevention.

However, Delia’s and her Mam’s relationship had improved as Delia had grown up. Instead of arguing all the time they began to help eachother and talk more than they had done previously. Delia supposed it was because she had gone from a moody, hormonal teenager to a more reasonable young adult and her Mam was able to have a conversation without having her head bitten off. Of course, they did still have their disagreements but these were fewer and far between making it easier for them to get along.

“Delia sweetheart I’d better go before your Mam starts breaking everything. I’ll talk to you later and you can tell me all about this ‘Patsy’ woman that your Mother keeps mouthing words at me about. Talk to you later.” 

Delia heard the disconnecting tone as her Father cut her off, she put the phone down by her side and took a deep breath in, before exhaling loudly out. It did feel strange not being at home but Delia was fine with being so far away. She could always call if she needed to and there wasn’t any need to get upset by the distance as she needed to stay at Oxford to do what she wanted to do. Besides, she’d come this far, she wasn’t prepared to turn back now.

Rolling onto her side she tried to close her eyes and get back to sleep. She found it impossible, her eyes kept springing open as if being pulled up on a string and she felt twitchy as if she was desperate to get out of bed, on top of that she really needed the toilet as well.

Sighing loudly, she rolled over once more and clambered out of bed, being careful to not make too much noise and wake Barbara. Once she got into the bathroom she shut and locked the door, realising that she had her stolen pyjamas from Patsy on and laughing at the fact that she was actually wearing them. 

Quickly going to the toilet she looked in the mirror and adjusted her hair until it was no longer falling out before flattening down the parts of her fringe that had sprung up after being slept on in the night. Delia quietly unlocked the door and made her way over to the kitchen, grabbing a glass she filled it up with water from the tap before setting the glass down onto the table, getting her phone from her bed and settling down onto the settee to scroll through her Instagram. 

She went onto her Spotify and attempted to find a song that wasn’t too upbeat for such a quiet morning, eventually deciding on a song that Patsy had recommended. It was of course a 60s song by The Drifters called ‘Save the last Dance for me.” Delia found herself tapping her feet along to the music. 

Whilst it wasn’t the best song she had ever heard, Delia had to admit that it was still good for a song that had been written and sung about 70 years ago. She quickly made a new play list by going online and searching for every 50s and 60s song that she could possibly find and compiled them all into the same place. It would be good to have something to talk to Patsy about, something that they could share in common.

Not that Delia really knew why she was quite so bothered about impressing Patsy.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I needed to update this fic and throw in a little bit o angst, now I'm not amazing at angst but I hope this is OK.
> 
> {Special mention to everyone on the group chat for the encouragement, you faves ;)).}
> 
> Enjoy! ;))<3 XX

Patsy woke up, stretching out her legs as she tried to shake off the remnants of sleep that threatened to cloud over her again if she closed her eyes. She could hear a faint voice buzzing outside her bedroom, sighing heavily she clambered out of bed to investigate unsurprised to see Trixie there. She waggled her fingers when she saw Patsy and spoke into the phone that was next to her ear.

“Matthew, sweetie, I’ve got to go. No, no it’s fine you don’t have to come and see me on the campus. What? No of course I don’t want that. Look if you’re going shopping though you could always pick us up a few essentials and then drop them round. Yes I’ll pay you. No not like that. OK then, I’ll see you later.” Trixie ended the call with her long fingernails and then turned to look at Patsy, blonde hair swinging over her shoulder as she did so.

“Hi Trixie, who was that then?” Patsy asked, gesturing to the phone that resided in her hand. 

Trixie looked a little ashamed at the question before recovering herself and replying with “He’s one of my ex boyfriends, he texted me last night and asked whether I wanted to meet up. I didn’t reply and that’s the 5th time he’s called me this morning, luckily you woke up at the exact right time so I had an excuse to end that call. The best news is that we will now get free shopping done for us.”

Patsy was confused at that, “But I thought that you just said that you would pay for it?” 

“Look Patsy, there’s one thing that you need to learn and that is that men love a tease, I’ll flirt a little and then ‘Bamm’ he won’t know what’s hit him. I’ll make him leave and we can keep all the shopping, it’s a win-win situation. No creepy guys for me and whatever it is we need to eat or drink.” Trixie winked at that statement and Patsy couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong.

“Are you sure about this?” She asked hesitantly. “I mean, we don’t want to upset anyone and I’ve got enough money it would just be easier for us to go and buy the things that we need-“ 

Trixie cut her off with a glance and a deep sigh, “Look it’s already done, Matthew won’t mind anyway, he loves a tease. Remember: treat em mean, keep em keen? That rule applies right here.” 

Patsy nodded but she still felt uncertain. “Well I need a shower anyway so I’ll go and do that and then get dressed” She gestured towards the bathroom but by that point Trixie was already on her Twitter account and only gave a disinterested nod at Patsy’s words and actions.

Patsy stepped into the shower and shivered at the cold water that rained down from the shower head, jumping out of the way as it threatened to splash on her body. Eventually it warmed up and she was able to stand under the cascade of water and reflect over everything that had happened at Oxford so far. Meeting all the girls had certainly made everything a lot easier to bare, but there was a certain other person who had caught Patsy’s eye more than the others. 

Delia.

Patsy couldn’t remember the last time she had had a silly little crush like this but standing there, under that water made Patsy realise exactly how she didn’t need another. After being in an unstable relationship for years, she didn’t need to find anyone else and have her heart broken by them as well. It needed to be stopped right now, Patsy would act civilised and courteous towards Delia but she couldn’t make her think that they were anything more than friends.

She finished washing herself and climbed out, grabbing a towel as she did so. Wrapping it around her body and one on her head, she made her way back to the bedroom where her clothes were all laid out on her bed. A pair of light grey tweed trousers and a white shirt made up her outfit, slipping them on and pulling out her hair dryer she prepared herself for the day. Once she was dressed and her hair was scraped into its usual half up-half down style, Patsy opened her bedroom door and saw Barbara and Trixie huddled over Trixie’s phone looking at something.

“Good morning Patsy! How are you?” Barbara said politely, looking up from the phone for a couple of seconds before looking straight back down again when Trixie nudged her.

Patsy looked at them both with an amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “I’m fine thank you. Where’s Delia?” She asked before she could stop herself.

“Um. As far as I know she’s across the corridor, I’ve only just come round so she should still be there.” Barbara replied distracted with whatever crucial information was all over Trixie’s phone screen.

Patsy grabbed her shoes and stuffed them onto her feet whilst simultaneously grabbing her keys, phone and coat from the hook that was next to the door. Waving at Trixie and Barbara and achieving no response, she quickly closed the door and went across the hall, hesitating for a minute before knocking firmly on the door. She didn’t hear any answer and no one came to open the door so Patsy pushed it open when she realised that it was unlocked. 

She walked cautiously into Delia and Barbara’s room, laughing when she realised why Delia hadn’t opened the door. The music was turned up almost full blast and Delia was singing and dancing along to a song by the Beach Boys ‘Wouldn’t it be nice.’ She stopped and went red when Patsy walked in, almost tripping over in her haste to get to her phone and turn off the song. Once she had done just that, Patsy noticed how red her cheeks were and how awkwardly she stood just looking at Patsy. 

“Good song choice.” Patsy said at last with a grin. “Am I converting you to the dark side that is 60s music?” She asked laughing, trying to boost Delia up.

Delia finally began to look less awkward and stared at Patsy through her eyelashes. “If you look at my phone I’ve made a little play list of all the songs I’ve found. It’s on Spotify.” 

Patsy picked up Delia’s phone and scrolled through until she got to a play list entitled ‘Patsy songs.’ She smiled when she saw it and looked at Delia. “Patsy songs eh? Cute name for a play list.” 

Delia flushed an even darker red as Patsy clicked on it and began searching through all of her songs. “Well does it meet your approval then Miss Patience Mount?” Delia asked cheekily, looking at Patsy’s face for any sign of recognition.

Patsy put the phone down and looked at Delia. “It most certainly does. I like the amount of Dusty Springfield on there, your music taste is improving Miss Delia Busby.”

Patsy had to stop herself there. It seemed to be verging on the edge of flirtatious again and Patsy needed to finish that before anything started to happen, it was bad enough the last time her heart was broken, a second time might just finish her off. After her mother and sister had died, Patsy had relied on a good support network of friends and that’s all she needed right now, friends. Not another disastrous relationship that turned sour.

She turned away from Delia and looked in the opposite direction. She really didn’t want to have to do this, but they wouldn’t work together, they were better matched as friends and Patsy certainly didn’t need to start falling for anyone else. Her mind flickered back painfully to that woman. The woman that caused all of the heartbreak and the trauma. The woman that managed to break up a relationship in three words. The woman who broke Patsy’s heart and never fixed it. Patsy couldn’t go through all of that again. 

She wouldn’t.

Delia looked hurt at Patsy’s dismissal but pinned her lips into a slight smile and looked down at the floor.

“Look Delia. I think it’s best if I go, Trixie keeps moaning at me about helping her with something and I need to go and sort everything out. I’ll maybe see you later.” And with that, Patsy quickly walked off, trying to shake off the feeling that she had made a mistake in letting Delia down like that. 

Delia could see that it wasn’t just about Patsy leaving at that specific point, her little speech meant that she needed to stay away and not be anything more than friends. Delia couldn’t work out why that seemed to hurt her so much. 

Patsy walked briskly into her bedroom, trying to ignore the concerned glances that were being exchanged between Trixie and Barbara. She sat down on her bed and exhaled loudly, trying to figure out whether she had done the right thing. Whether Patience Mount had just made a huge mistake.

She wasn’t sure.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was quite hard to write and I'm still not 100% convinced that I've captured Patsy's personality perfectly. 
> 
> Please, please let me know what you think about this chapter. Now read on... <3 XX

Patsy sighed and leant her head against the wall, she couldn’t stop the hot ears spurting down her cheeks however hard she tried to stop them. Wiping her face angrily she stared up at the ceiling to try and stop the flow of tears that threatened to cloud her vision and make her feel ten times worse than she already did. 

“Patsy, sweetie are you alright?” Trixie called through the door. She didn’t come in, Patsy noted and she was glad of that.

She tried to make her voice sound normal. “Yes thank you, I’m fine don’t worry.” It was easier to pretend that nothing was wrong and get over it in the privacy of her own bedroom, after all Patience Mount was normally a master at bottling up all her emotions.

Trixie wasn’t fooled. “Patsy can I come in?”

There wasn’t an answer so she walked in anyway and sat down next to Patsy on the bed, Trixie pulled Patsy into a tight hug and after hanging limply for a few seconds she wrapped her arms around the shorter blonde. 

“Sweetie, what’s wrong? Has something happened with Delia?”

Patsy pulled herself up. “What do you mean?”   
“It was just because you had been over there with Delia and then you came back and now you’re really upset. Why, is it something else?” Trixie said, confused at Patsy’s defensive tone.

Patsy visibly sighed with relief, she wasn’t ready for Trixie to think or know anything about her feelings for Delia. She had no idea whether Delia felt the same way or even if Delia was the same way. 

“There’s nothing wrong, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Patsy said, wiping her face and sighing. 

Trixie wasn’t convinced. “Look Patsy, you know that I’m here if you need to talk about anything. You can always offload any problems that you have on to me.” 

“Thanks, but I think I just want to be alone for a bit. I’ll see you later.” Trixie got up and nodded before closing the door gently behind her.

Patsy sighed and leant her head against the wall, her mind flashed back to the first time she had met the woman who had broken her heart.

-

Patsy sat in the club, ears pounding and her heart beating in time to the music, Rachel had dragged her to the club and she was busy eyeing up all the guys at the other side of the room. Who were definitely gay.

Suddenly she saw Rachel out of the corner of her eye looking slightly drunk. “Isn’t this the best gay club you’ve been to?? Aren’t you glad I bought you here?” She slurred in Patsy’s ear, who moved away slightly from her very sloshed friend.

“I’m just going to the toilets.” She shouted in Rachel’s ear, who blindly nodded and turned away to stare at the barman.

Patsy walked quickly away into the cooler toilets, glad of the air conditioning that cleared away the sticky heat from inside the club. She sighed as she looked in the dirty mirror and saw her makeup was beginning to slide down her face, Patsy couldn’t have fixed it so she just decided to brave it out and leave it as it was. The door opened, almost slamming into her and a rather upset woman sprinted into a toilet cubicle before locking it shut. Patsy couldn’t have left whoever it was so upset, especially when she heard the woman begin to cry.

“Are, are you alright in there?” She called out, gently knocking on the door. There was no answer so Patsy knocked a little harder and asked the same question. Suddenly she heard the door being unlocked and tall brunette with short brown hair cut just above her shoulders, she was pretty in a funny sort of way – striking to look at. Her eyes were a deep green colour and she was wearing a short black dress with flat shoes.

“I’m fine thank you.” She said harshly. “I’ve just found my girlfriend snogging another woman but apart from that this is one of the best nights of my life.” She was obviously being sarcastic and whilst other people might find that rude, Patsy didn’t mind, in fact she loved sarcasm and tended to get along well with people that used it.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you two been together?” Patsy didn’t want to upset the woman further by asking personal questions but at the same time she wanted to continue talking to her.

“Clearly 3 fucking years meant nothing to her. We were supposed to be moving in together soon, clearly that’s not happening anymore.” The woman spat, not upset anymore but angry.

“Well let’s go out there and you can point her out to me.” Patsy suggested. The woman nodded and they both walked out into the club. Patsy instantly saw the woman who had abandoned her girlfriend, a shorter woman with long blonde hair. She was swaying along to the music with someone else but when she saw Patsy’s new companion she jumped apart from the intimate pose.

Suddenly Patsy felt a hot breath next to her ear, “I think I forgot to say, my name is Danielle.” Patsy looked up to see Danielle’s now ex girlfriend shoot her a look and turn back around to the other woman. 

“Look Danielle I don’t want to get in between you two because you could end up getting back together, I’m not a one night stand.” Patsy said self assuredly.

“Well luckily for you neither am I. What do you want to drink?”

The rest of the night passed with a steady flow of drinks and a lot of dancing. Danielle gave Patsy her number but they didn’t go home together and Patsy was glad of that, she wasn’t there for an easy get one over fuck. A couple of days later Patsy decided that it was time that she gave Danielle a call and see whether she was interested in meeting up.

Dialling the number she didn’t expect an answer so she was pleasantly surprised when she heard Danielle’s voice at the end of the phone. They arranged to meet up and go for a drink at a pub that was just around the corner from Patsy’s flat, it was a pleasant afternoon and they agreed to keep meeting up.

Over the next couple of months the two women got increasingly closer, meeting whenever they could when suddenly Danielle asked Patsy to move in and it was official. The rest of their relationship passed without trouble until one day Patsy came home early and found her girlfriend with someone else. It had obviously been going on for a while because Patsy knew the other woman. In fact, she’d been round to their flat a couple of times with her boyfriend for dinner because Danielle knew her through work.

As soon as she walked in and saw the two women in bed together Patsy knew, she knew that Danielle had been playing her and it had gone on right under her nose, she didn’t know how long this little arrangement had been going on but it had. And that was enough for Patsy.

“Get out.” She said quietly, she could feel the anger rising but she was determined to keep a calm demeanour. Danielle smirked as Patsy through her clothes at her. “And your little friend can leave as well.”   
Danielle was laughing as she got her clothes on, Patsy looked her full on in the face as she fumbled with her jeans. “Don’t you think about coming back, I told you I wasn’t here for an easy fuck. Unlike her.” Patsy spat in the direction of the other woman.

She watched them leave and then sat on the sofa, head in hands. She couldn’t cry and she refused to let herself, Danielle clearly never valued the relationship, in fact Patsy questioned whether, when she met Danielle in that club for the first time she had actually been interested in Patsy. 

The next couple of days were spent in a frenzied daze, frantically trying to clear out all of Danielle’s belongings and take them round to her Mother’s house. It was a shame because Patsy had always got along really well with her Mum.

Finally everything had gone and the only reminders that were left of Danielle were the occasional wafts of perfume and the T-shirt that Patsy couldn’t bear to throw away, as much as she hated to admit it, Patsy had loved Danielle and that’s why it hurt so much to realise that Danielle had never loved her as much as she had. 

It was finished.

-

And now Patsy found herself here, at a university in love with a girl who would never know and who Patsy had just pushed away. Delia felt different though, their relationship even as friends felt special and she could imagine them growing old together. That would never be a reality anymore though.

That thought hurt Patsy a lot.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really not too sure about this chapter, it felt very rushed but I've decided to post it anyway and see what you all think!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and that it doesn't seem too awful ;).
> 
> *FOREWARNING: Just in case any of you like Jenny Lee, I'm not her biggest fan, I don't really know why I just never liked her character as much as the others. This won't become a big Jenny hating session though so don't worry. ;)
> 
> Enjoy! :)<3 XX

Patsy woke up the next day in the same position, wearing the same clothes. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and her neck felt stiff after leaning her head against the wall for so long. She looked at her phone and was shocked to see that it was half past nine in the morning, she had slept for hours and yet when she felt the pounding headache it didn’t feel like she had slept at all. Patsy was unsurprised to see that she didn’t have any notifications on her phone, even Twitter seemed unusually quiet and yet when she went onto her feed there wasn’t anything of interest. 

She sighed and chucked the phone back on the bed next to her, or at least she thought she did, in reality the phone bounced off of her bed and fell onto the floor. Patsy had dropped her phone hundreds of times before but somehow this time it had shattered, leaving a long ugly crack right across the middle of the screen and rendering it useless. 

“Oh fuck!” She exclaimed rather loudly, willing herself not to cry.

She wasn’t upset about the phone, that would be easy to replace. It was just the fact that everything bad seemed to be happening in her life and she was powerless to stop it. After Danielle Patsy swore to herself that she wouldn’t get romantically involved with anyone else, it seemed to cause more harm than good. 

Suddenly Patsy realised that she actually had a lecture today, with Winifred and of course Delia. And that lecture begun in about an hour so she really needed to get herself sorted and looking a lot more presentable. Patsy pulled herself up off the bed and slowly turned her head from side to side to try and clear the ache that had formed from lying in the same spot for too long. 

Tossing the now useless phone onto the bed, Patsy opened her wardrobe and got out a loose shirt and some slacks, perfect for the weather that wasn’t necessarily cold but definitely couldn’t be classed as summer. 

Once she had got changed, she pinned her hair up into the beehive style, half up half down that always made her look like she’d stepped straight out of a 1960s magazine. Patsy patted down her hair, straightened her shirt and grabbed her phone off the bed. She wouldn’t be going anywhere after the lecture so she might as well see whether she could get her phone fixed on her way back. 

Opening her bedroom door, Patsy quickly walked over to her shoes nearly colliding with Trixie who neatly jumped out of the way as she was coming out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around her wet hair like a turban and her bathrobe delicately wrapped around her body.

“Are you alright Patsy? You’re looking a little stressed.” 

Trixie said, looking up at the taller red head who did indeed have a very strained expression on her face.

“Pardon?” Patsy said, registering Trixie’s look of concern. “Oh yes, don’t worry I’m fine. I've just got to go to go to a lecture though. Oh and my phone is broken so I need to see if I can get that fixed later.” She finished tying up the laces of her brogues and stood up suddenly before grabbing her coat and twisting the buttons clumsily. “I’ll see you later Trixie.” She picked up the notes from the seat and hugged them to her chest.

Patsy gave a small half wave and ducked her head as she walked out the door. She hesitated for a moment before brusquely knocking on Delia’s door. Barbara opened it, a confused expression imprinted on her face until she saw Patsy standing there.

“Oh hello Patsy! Are you looking for Delia?” Patsy nodded in reply, not trusting herself to speak.

“I’m afraid she left about ten minutes ago? Sorry I was a bit curious as to why she hadn’t waited for you but I guessed that maybe you told her to go on without you.” 

Barbara smiled apologetically at Patsy who weakly smiled before waggling her fingers and walking out into the corridor. She sighed heavily and collected her thoughts for a moment. Patsy had known that Delia would be upset, but she didn’t think that she would end up being blocked out by her completely. She had to keep going however, and so that was how Patsy found herself walking outside into the bright sunshine. The fifteen minutes walk to the hall felt much longer as she dawdled her way past all the other students who were clearly running on 2 hours of sleep and at least five cups of coffee. 

Eventually she got to the lecture with at least 10 minutes to spare. At least now she would have time to set out all her notes and get herself prepared before they began. What she wasn’t prepared for however, was the sight of Delia in the front row with another brunette who had short brown curled hair. Patsy watched as they chatted amicably before realising that she must look strange stood in the aisle so she grabbed a seat as far back as possible so that she might be able to leave as soon as it ended. 

Suddenly she saw Delia turn around as if she was searching for someone, before landing her gaze on Patsy. It was as though she couldn’t decide between smiling at her or leaving it because her mouth twisted into an awkward half smile and she turned back around quickly to continue to talk to the woman next to her. At that moment Patsy saw Winifred walk in and make a beeline for her, red curls bouncing crazily around her face and the heavy pile of lecture notes balancing precariously in her arms.

“Good morning Patsy! It’s a little early for this isn’t it? Where’s Delia, isn’t she with you?” Winifred was, as usual, very hyper and excited but she did seem a little confused by the lack of Delia. 

“Oh, um she’s just sat at the front over there. See? Next to that girl with the short brown hair.”

Eventually Winifred realised who Patsy was talking about and just going to question why her and Delia weren’t sat together when their lecturer came into the hall and began to discuss the positives and negatives of antibiotics and why some were being eradicated. Luckily it was work that Patsy had studied prior to the lecture so she had a bit of spare time to wonder what was going on between her and the smaller brunette sat on the front row.

Eventually it finished and everyone began to pack away. Patsy deliberately took a while putting the sheets of paper in her folder, determined to try and miss talking to Delia for fear of the awkwardness that she was sure would arise. Winifred however, clearly had other ideas and as soon as she saw Delia and her new friend walking up the spaces between the chairs she called them over.

Delia did indeed look rather uncomfortable but it would have been rude to ignore Winifred, especially when she didn’t have any idea about what had gone on between the other two girls. 

“Hello Delia! Who’s this?” Winifred asked, gesturing to the other girl stood next to Delia, the one who she had spent the entire lecture with.

“I’m Jenny.” The other woman said in a soft-spoken voice, brown curls bouncing on her shoulders. She seemed a bit far up herself Patsy thought, she had been forced to try and engage with these sorts of girls at Boarding school – the ones who always got involved in the cliques. The sort of girl that Patsy hated.

“Oh well hello Jenny! I’m Winifred and this is Patsy.” 

Winifred said, gesturing towards Patsy. Delia noted that when Patsy tried to smile, it was tight lipped and didn’t stretch across her face as normal. 

“I’d better go.” Patsy said, trying to remove herself from the small group. “My phone smashed earlier and I was going to go and see if I could get it fixed.” She explained to the other three girls. Patsy scooped up her notes and squeezed past Winifred before waving quickly and then leaving as swiftly as possible. She breathed a sigh of relief when she got outside, the slightly cold wind was welcome on her warm skin and the loose tendrils of hair played around her face. 

Patsy set off in the general direction of the town, she wasn’t sure how long it would take to get there but she could always get a taxi if it was necessary. She set off, taking in the views around her. Oxford truly was a beautiful city, she thought. Everything seemed to look so classic and timeless, unlike the Boarding School where she had grown up and its surrounding area which seemed to be a mixture of nearly rich people and the working class, attached council houses just down the road. It was a major contrast to the building that she had lived in for the majority of her childhood – the school house was large and elegant.

Eventually she made it into the town centre and managed to get her phone replaced, it had been a pleasant walk and as she dawdled back towards her part of the university campus she decided to see if there was a scenic route. She found herself walking alongside a long canal, ducks floating on top of the water with the long barges moored in at the side. She took in the sights around her, registering the fact that there was hardly anyone outside – apart from the occasional dog walker and jogger who always waved a cheery hello.

It was the first time that Patsy had ever felt like she belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Feel free to message me on tumblr @charlottik123 I'm always up for a chat and I promise I don't bite! I'm friendly really ;)).


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After all the positive feedback on this fic I decided to post again, special thanks to WritingFrances for showing me that this can in fact be classed as English revision ;)).
> 
> Also, thank you to So_Delialicious without your constant support and encouragement I don't know what I'd do!
> 
> Enjoy this chapter! ;)<3 XX

Delia watched Patsy’s retreating figure as she brusquely walked off, trying to look unaffected by whatever it was that was bothering her. Winifred nudged Delia concern splashed all over her face as they all watched the ginger woman become increasingly smaller in the distance.

Delia tried to paste a smile on her face if only for the fact that she couldn’t put up with any more of Winifred’s questions about why her and Patsy weren’t talking to each other as usual, the girl next to her – Jenny, Delia thought she had heard her say looked between Winifred and Delia as they exchanged slight glances.

“So Delia, are you doing anything now because we could always go for a coffee if you wanted to. Winifred you could join us of course.” Jenny seemed a little less excited at the prospect of Winifred coming but it would have been rude to leave her out of the invite when she was stood right there.

Winifred looked up at the mention of her name before nodding and smiling at both Delia and Jenny in turn.  


"I suppose I could, I haven’t got anywhere else to be.” Winifred said, trying to act nonchalant even though she was clearly excited at the prospect of a simple coffee. 

Delia took one last look at the Patsy sized speck in the distance before nodding her head firmly and hitching her notes further up into her arms.

The three girls chattered quietly as they walked down the road, well Winifred and Jenny did, Delia was more concerned with the state of Patsy. She couldn’t stop thinking about how upset the ginger woman had looked when she saw Delia sat at the front with someone else. In reality it hadn’t happened like that, Delia had had to rush out in the morning to get her some sanitary items and by the time she'd bought them it was time for the lecture. She had walked in and sat at the front, putting her stuff down on the seat next to her until Jenny walked in and sat down next to her.

Delia had saved another seat next to her so Patsy could sit down there and yet once she saw that she had sat right at the back it was apparent that Patsy had no interest in being Delia’s friend. Winifred had clearly been just as confused as her and neither of them knew how to act around the secluded woman who seemed determined to shut everyone around her out.

The talking continued until eventually they made it to one of the more modern cafes that was popular with the students around the area, the Cath Kidston tablecloths and old fashioned cup and saucers rather made Delia feel as though she was in an old fashioned parlour – much like the one her Mam used to have. Jenny and Winifred seemed to like it though and made appreciative ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ noises at the rose patterned everything.

Winifred and Jenny fit in here well. Delia thought to herself. She however, did not. She much preferred the less showy cafe that her and Patsy had been to previously. There was nice food and none of the pretentious rubbish that came with this cafe and certainly not the £4 coffee that Delia had to pay for by scraping out all of the loose change that had collated in the bottom of her purse. 

“Isn’t this nice.” Winifred said cheerily, beaming her way through the small latte that she had just purchased. Jenny nodded, sipping the jasmine tea that shad been able to afford. Delia wasn’t sure how on earth anyone managed to drink anything as foul as jasmine tea, the smell was enough to put her off from going anywhere near it.

“So Jenny, what do you want to do after uni?” Winifred asked, clearly trying to keep the conversation flowing as she sensed the awkwardness radiating off of Delia. If there was anything that Winifred was any good at doing, it was seeing through people.

“Oh well I was thinking about working as a Nurse. That’s obviously why I’ve taken medicine but there’s just something that really appeals to me about nursing. I’ve always been told that I was a caring person which influenced me into this career choice.” She took another sip of her drink and flicked her hair over her shoulder, Jenny clearly wasn’t interested in what Winifred or Delia were planning on doing so she didn’t ask.

Luckily Winifred told her anyway. “Oh me too! I’ve always wanted to be a nurse ever since I was a little girl, my mother always encouraged me to try everything when I went for job experience I worked shadowing a nurse for a week. It was really interesting work so I applied straight away for this university and this course. I’m glad I did, I think it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Winifred’s voice bubbled on and on until eventually Delia found herself zoning out and trying to think of more pleasant things than Winifred’s life choices. Suddenly she heard her name being called and she snapped back to attention.

“Huh?” She said, confusion etched onto her face.  
“We were just asking you what you were doing after university but you seemed a little spaced out. Are you OK? You do look a little pale.” Jenny’s affected voice seemed to grate on Delia’s nerves even more, as much as she hated to appear rude, she needed to get out of that cafe and away from the other two.

She grabbed her coat and slipped it onto her shoulders before trying to make herself sound as pathetic as was believable. “Well, I’m not feeling amazing. I think I’ll nip back, but it’s been a nice afternoon we should do it again sometime!” And with that she dashed out of the cafe leaving two very bewildered girls and a half drunk, very expensive coffee that wasn’t even that nice anyway.

Delia ambled back towards the accommodation, it was such nice weather that it didn’t seem right to be indoors and so that was how Delia found herself stretched out on the grass opposite, coat rolled behind her head as a pillow and large sunglasses resting on the tip of her nose. Close enough to block out the sun, but not too close that it would cause a major tan line that would be quite embarrassing seeing as she didn’t properly know anyone at the university yet. 

Suddenly she heard someone shuffling their feet next to her, taking off the sunglasses and peering upwards into the sun she saw a shorter girl with blonde hair. She was wearing a light blue cotton dress and white converse shoes which she scuffed along the ground nervously. 

“Hello.” She said, sounding a lot more confident than she looked. “I just wanted to introduce myself, I’m Lily.” 

She held out her hand so that Delia could shake it which at that point seemed more than a friendly gesture. Although the woman looked shy, she clearly had some intentions and they weren’t just to be friends. Delia didn’t really have anything to lose though.

“Oh hello! I’m Delia.” She said, grasping Lily’s hand firmly and shaking it before standing up and retrieving her phone and coat from on the ground. They talked for a couple of minutes before Delia realised that she should probably go and meet Barbara. She waved goodbye to the woman, who waved shyly back before turning around quickly as she changed her mind.

“Actually, do you want my number? We could go out for a drink at some point if you wanted to?” Lily grinned as she punched in the digits of her phone number into Delia’s phone and nodded when she heard the proposition.

“I’d like that.” She said, grinning widely before remembering where she was and trying to pin her lips back into a slight smile.

“Good!” Delia said, smiling just as widely at the other girl. They parted ways with a quick goodbye and then a wave as Delia began to walk in the direction of the accommodation. It had been a long time since Delia had been out for drinks with someone she had only just met by herself. 

They texted back and forth all night until Delia finally collapsed onto her bed and instantly fell asleep, a smile still imprinted on her lips.

She slept well that night.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to the conclusion that I must be one of the most enthusiastic people to ever grace this earth, like I just get so excited by stuff!!
> 
> But anyway, here is another chapter and I hope I'm not disappointing you with the lack o' Pupcake, we will get there just got to wait for Pats&Deels to get their shit together ;))
> 
> Enjoy! <3 XX

Delia traced around her lips with a dark red pencil liner, before filling in with the burgundy shade that she had bought earlier in the afternoon with Barbara. After she had met Lily in the park they had texted back and forth each day, there was some definite flirting going on and yet Delia had decided that she wouldn’t be the one to initiate the relationship, if there even was one.

It hadn’t stopped her from agreeing to go out with Lily for a few drinks in the evening though, which was why she found herself in a little black dress and heels, with her hair styled and makeup on for once. Delia wasn’t a big fan of going all out and dressing up but she seemed to be making a big effort with this ‘date’ or whatever it was. She couldn’t decide whether that was a good or a bad thing, after all she felt very comfortable around Patsy and could dress how she wanted but she wasn’t sure how Lily would take it.

Barbara looked up from her book after the third time that Delia had paced around the room. “Delia what an earth are you doing?” She asked with a quizzical expression on her face, trying to look innocent but clearly understanding why Delia was so het up. 

“Hm? Oh no I’m fine, what time did I say I was meeting Lily outside?” Delia asked, trying to keep her face neutral and failing dramatically. She pulled her phone out of her bag and checked it for the millionth time before looking up at Barbara, an expectant expression painted on her face.

Barbara looked up from her book again at Delia and this time laughed out loud as she saw Delia yet again, frantically pace and stress around the room. “You have 20 minutes so why don’t you just sit down until you go down?” 

Delia nodded and took in a visible gulp of air, jumping when she heard the door open and saw Trixie walk in with Patsy stood awkwardly behind her. She half smiled when she saw Delia and then looked down, putting her hands into her pockets as she stared solidly at the ground.

“You’re looking very suave Delia! Where are you off to?” Trixie said in mock astonishment as she looked Delia up and down, taking in the tight fitting dress and tall heels.

“She’s off on a date.” Barbara said, looking up at Trixie over her book and folding over the corner of the page. Delia heard Patsy take in a short, sharp breath but when she looked over there wasn’t any difference in the way she was acting. She was acting like a bit of a spoilt child.

Trixie had obviously heard it too as she looked over at Patsy, frowning at the expression on her face. “It sounds marvellous sweetie, who is it with?” Delia blushed red, she didn’t think that anyone knew about her being gay and now didn’t seem like the ideal place or time to tell them. It was now or never though.

“She’s called Lily, I met her outside here and we are just going for a drink down the road.” Delia didn’t say anything else but waited for the reactions to explode around her. Staring up she saw Trixie looking at Barbara and Patsy looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face. 

“Oh you’re gay? Cool.” Trixie seemed entirely uninterested in that fact as she pressed for the details about the mystery woman that Delia was seeing. Patsy looked upset, even slightly angry as she looked around, sleek eyebrows knitted together and eyelashes fluttering trying to take in all her surroundings as her eyes threatened to swim with tears.

Delia checked her phone again and seeing that it was time to go she quickly excused herself and edged past Patsy in her haste to get to the door. She tottered down the stairs in her heels before realising that she must look pathetically eager and slowed herself right down as she came to the bottom. Delia was a couple of minutes early so she wasn’t expecting to see Lily there already, but then she got outside she was standing right by the wall. She looked stunning in a mid length blue dress with white shoes and a tailored jacket, Delia admired the low neckline and the single pearl that rested on the end of a necklace on the creamy white skin of her chest.

“Oh, hello!” Delia said, suddenly feeling strangely shy as the woman she had been thinking about all day was stood in front of her. She felt tongue tied and her stomach twisted into knots as Lily reached over and kissed each cheek as a means of greeting her.

“Hello, how have you been?” Her voice was softer than Delia remembered which wasn’t a bad thing, it suited her perfectly. She was very well spoken and sounded like she’d had a good private school education, eventually Delia discovered that Lily had taken English. She didn’t think that she seemed like a scientific sort of person, there always seemed to be a different attitude surrounding the arts and the scientists, after all English and Drama went hand in hand.

They chatted amicably as they made their way to ‘The White Horse’ pub. Delia had heard about it from a friend and had been desperate to go there for a good couple of weeks. She had to remind herself that she wasn’t just at university for the alcohol, although that was an added bonus. Delia watched as Lily continued to talk, she had to stop herself from brushing away the piece of hair that was caught under the strap of her bag because she wasn’t sure what would happen if they touched. 

They finally got to the pub, Delia was amazed by the whitewashed walls and high beams that stretched along the top of the ceiling. Her local pub in Pembrokeshire was a poky affair, full of all the old drunken men who seemed desperate to recount the tales of their youth to anyone who showed even the most vague bit of interest.

“What do you want?” She asked Lily. “I’ll pay for this round.”

Lily looked thoughtful for a second before grinning at Delia. “A gin and tonic for me please.” 

Gin and tonic was one of Delia’s most hated drinks, she ordered a beer for herself and slid the money across to the barman before taking the drinks over to the table. She tried to shake the look of Patsy’s hurt face out of her mind from when she had mentioned the date and instead tried to focus on Lily and whatever it was she was saying about her friend back at home where she lived in Chelsea.

Delia was a master at pretending to be listening, after years of having to do it for her mother so she pinned a smile on her face and delved deep back into her mind as she recounted all of the times that Patsy and her had properly spoken without any awkwardness or falling out. Delia was still confused as to why Patsy had shut her off and why she had looked so upset when Delia had mentioned that she was going out with someone else. 

“Delia?” Delia snapped back to attention, she needed to stop thinking about Patsy and start focusing on the present moment, which was with Lily. Delia picked up her beer and raised it to her glossy lips before taking a long, slow sip and raising her eyes flirtatiously over the glass. She watched as Lily went red and took a gulp of gin and tonic, before slightly choking as the liquid went down her throat. Delia got up to rub her back and felt Lily stiffen slightly as she did so. Her back was set straight and her eyes seemed fixated on one straight point in front of her.

She grabbed Delia’s hand and got up before dragging her outside and hailing a taxi for them both. They got inside and as Delia gave herself time to wonder as to what the hell Lily was doing, she felt warm lips crush her own and a hand cupping her cheek. They sat there, embracing in the back of a taxi until the driver signalled for them to get out. 

Lily quickly paid and then grabbed Delia’s arm again, pulling her along until they reached Lily’s room. Delia stood stock still as she watched Lily seductively undress herself and then beckon over to Delia to settle on the bed. Delia slowly walked over and undressed until both girls were locked in a fiery embrace of passion. Their lips explored each other, red hot kisses down collarbones, trailed all over skin and small hands cupped breasts as they worked on eachother.

It should have been amazing and sensual and loving but all Delia could think of was how she wished that it was her and Patsy .


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, here's another chapter of this fic! I'm finding the modern one easier to write at the moment but hopefully I should get back onto "I want you with me" when this writer's block has cleared.
> 
> Here ya go Grace and Steph, hope you like it ;)) (the baby has been born! ;) XX

Delia awoke with a start, it took her eyes a second to adjust to the dimly lit room but once they had she realised where she was. A slumbering, quietly snoring Lily was lying next to her, shrouded in the bed covers. Delia swiftly leant up, careful not to wake up the sleeping girl and climbed out of the bed before rushing into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. 

She turned on the cold tap and splashed her face with the icy water before looking up to the mirror to see a very despondent reflection staring back at her. The mascara that Delia had applied only last night, had smeared all over her eyes, the foundation was beginning to look cakey and the lipstick had decided to stain all the area around her mouth except her lips.

She sighed dramatically and worked at scrubbing it off her face, it was useless. Whatever Delia had put on was refusing to come off and the panda eyes look was really not her best. Delia didn’t know what to do, in the other room there was a woman in there that was clearly interested about being in a relationship with her. Delia’s mind flashed back to a couple of hours previous and if it was possible, her mood dropped even further. She hadn’t felt any of the passion or excitement that she was expected to feel. 

Delia just felt, empty.

In fact, to be completely honest whatever Delia had just experienced felt a little like a cheap one night stand.  


Delia’s last long term relationship had ended on good terms, they still sent each other Birthday and Christmas cards but they had just agreed that it hadn’t worked out. Grace had been her Mam’s favourite, always polite and a genuinely lovely person. That was the problem though, they had seemed more like friends than anything else. Delia was glad that they had gone their separate ways, the last time that she heard of Grace was the marriage between her and her now-wife Steph. They looked like the perfect couple and their wedding pictures were absolutely beautiful but Delia couldn’t help but be a little jealous of the two women. 

She unlocked the bathroom door, went into the bedroom and grabbed her clothes and her phone. Delia quickly got dressed and then sat on the sofa identical to hers that was situated in the middle of the room. Delia switched on her phone and logged into Facebook before searching and finding who she was looking for almost immediately. Her fingers danced over the keys as she began to compose her message. 

 

Hello Grace,

It’s Delia, well obviously but I noticed that you were visiting Oxford and that’s where I am now! Just wondered if you wanted to meet me for a coffee – bring Steph of course. Message me back :).

D x

 

After deliberating for at least five minutes she finally clicked send and then there was no going back. Whether Grace replied or not was entirely up to her but for now Delia needed to leave Lily, she scribbled down a note from a piece of scrap paper and left it for her to see before shutting the door behind her and walking back to her room. Thankfully she managed to avoid everyone as she raced back before closing the door behind her and leaning on it. She slowly turned around to see Trixie, Barbara and Patsy all sat on the settee staring up at the very distraught looking Delia. 

Before anyone could say anything to her Delia rushed into her bedroom, grabbed a clean set of jeans and a fresh T-shirt and some underwear before making her way quickly into the bathroom next door. Luckily there was a towel so Delia had enough time to quickly wash and dry herself before putting on her clothes and removing any of the excess makeup that hadn’t been washed off by the shower.

Wrapping the dress up into a tiny ball she picked the towel up off the floor and walked into her bedroom with it. Her phone was flashing at her from the bed and as she picked it up she saw she had a message from Grace.

 

Hi Delia!

Yep we are in Oxford for the next couple of days so if you want to meet today then that sounds good. Name a time and a place, Steph is really excited to meet you by the way :).

G x

 

Delia’s mind raced, thinking about everything that had happened with Grace and Patsy and now Lily. She tapped her fingers and started to bite her nails but she made up her mind when she heard a sharp knock at the door that seemed like it came from Patsy. Wrenching the door open she came face to face with one very surprised looking Patience Mount who, judging by the expectant face of Trixie behind her, had clearly been forced into doing this. Delia stared hard at Patsy before looking down and typing the name of a cafe that she had seen coming into Oxford, no more than a ten minute walk away.

Delia couldn’t stop the smile bursting across her face when she saw the words “We’ll be there in half an hour.” She was finally going to see Grace again.

Delia looked at Patsy who tried her hardest to smile but she didn’t return it. Delia grabbed her jacket and her converses from next to her bed before sauntering out past the ginger woman. She waved at Trixie and Barbara who each gave weak smiles in return as Delia walked out of the room. Shoes in one hand and her coat in the other.

She stopped just outside and shoved her converses on before viciously yanking the laces and tying them into bows. Shrugging her jacket onto her shoulders she double checked that her phone was in her back pocket before setting off, she might be a couple of minutes early but rather that than sit around with the woman who had no interest in talking to her. Delia slowly walked down the street, hands in her pockets as she felt the hot sun warm her face and lift her mood. 

Eventually she made it to the cafe, seeing that there was no one else inside Delia decided to order herself a coffee and some cake before the other two arrived. She was sure that Grace wouldn’t mind and as far as Delia could ascertain Steph seemed like a genuinely lovely person as well. It all happened at once, the waitress put her order on the table and then a flash of red hair paired with brown caught her eye. She waved and stood up as they walked in hand in hand and Delia couldn’t help but feel a little emotional that she was finally seeing them at last.

“Oh my god hello!” Grace said, looking Delia up and down before gesturing to Steph.

“This is Steph obviously, but how have you been?” She asked as they all sat down and Steph called the waitress over. She ordered two teas and a slice of cake to share and Delia couldn’t help but grin as they both took it in turns to take a large forkful of cake. 

“I’ve been alright thank you. I’m doing medicine at Oxford which is good, I’m really enjoying that. Well I was enjoying it a whole lot more before now.” She looked down visibly upset, oblivious to the glances that were exhaled between the two other women.

“What do you mean?” Steph asked gently, placing her hand on Delia’s arm as she saw the younger woman fight to hold back tears.

“Well, it’s just that I’ve met a woman. She’s called Patsy and I thought that we were getting along really well and she’s suddenly shut herself off. And last night I ended up staying with another girl called Lily who seems really interested but I just don’t think I want a relationship with her. Last night wasn’t enjoyable, it just felt awkward.” This all came out in one large breath, Grace could see Delia visibly deflating as she finished talking.

“Well, do you like this other Patsy woman then?” Grace asked. Delia nodded, she couldn’t make her mouth form the words.

“Well then tell her.” Steph said, cutting in front of Grace and looking at Delia. “You shouldn’t be in a relationship that you feel forced to be in, it isn’t healthy and besides you’ll be wasting your life! We both know that you fully deserve to be happy and if that means doing what your heart is telling you then go for it! I think that deep down you knew what we would say to you about this.”

Delia nodded again, she knew what she had to do. It just might be one of the hardest things that she would ever have to do. Grace smiled at her, Delia had missed that Scottish accent. They should have caught up more, they were never going to date eachother again but they were such great friends and she seemed that she was truly happy with Steph. 

It had been an interesting afternoon, one that she was never likely to forget for the right reasons. After a promise to keep in touch and that Steph would send over the honeymoon pictures that they had taken whilst in Italy the three girls departed. The sun had begun to lower itself in the sky as Delia walked home and she couldn’t help but reflect on everything.

It was time to face the music.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at the request of Steph and Grace I have churned out another chapter of this fic, it might be pretty shit but I've done a Patsy perspective so you'll have to see if this works.
> 
> Tell me what ya think! <3 XX

Patsy watched Delia as she sauntered casually out of the flat past Patsy. She felt humiliated especially as Patsy had summoned up all the courage she had to speak to Delia and then been rudely blanked. Trixie’s surprised face greeted her as she swung round to look at the other girls and saw them looking equally as shocked as she felt. 

“Right then!” Patsy said as she walked to the sofa and sat back down. Turning to face Barbara she willed the spontaneous tears that had formed in her eyes to not start flowing down her face because if they started, Patsy didn’t think that they would stop. 

Fuck Delia and whatever the hell was going on between them.

“Are you alright Patsy?” Trixie asked, looking up from her phone in concern as she was nudged rather violently in the side by Barbara when she saw just how affected Patsy was by it all. 

“Oh yes, I’m fine.” She said, trying to pin a rather wobbly smile onto her face which dropped quickly when she thought of the look that Delia had given her as she walked past. It was one of upset that was quickly replaced by one of hatred.

Barbara saw the visible droop in Patsy’s shoulders but every time she tried to ask if she was alright there was a quick deflection away from the subject that was clearly causing her so much pain. 

Delia.

Eventually Patsy had had enough of the questions and the awkward silence and the little pauses between everything that was said. Picking herself off the sofa she stretched her legs and brushed off her skirt.

“What are you doing?” Barbara asked as she watched what Patsy was doing. 

“I think I’m going to go for a walk, I need to clear my head and it’s a nice afternoon. I’ll see you two later.” She grabbed her brogues and her jacket, shoving the shoes on her feet and tying the laces with as much strength as she could muster. With shaking hands Patsy wrenched the door open and walked out.

She made her way out into the sunshine and saw the small groups of students that were arranged on the grass area, some with revision notes, others just sunbathing. Patsy couldn’t sit down, her legs were desperate for some movement and the best way that she could remove the anger and upset that pooled inside of her was by walking it off. 

Normally Patsy did something particularly monotone, like cleaning. Something that required absolutely no thought but with Trixie and Barbara in there with her she couldn’t get out her cleaning implements and begin scrubbing aggressively at the kitchen counter until she felt better. No, walking would have to do.

 

>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<

 

Delia was practically running in her haste to get to Patsy, she couldn’t believe that she had been so stupid after all this time. She had used Lily as a distraction whilst she battled with her feelings for Patsy, trying to shut down all her emotions clearly hadn’t gone to plan. Eventually she made it to the room, bursting in and surprising a very shocked Trixie and Barbara.

“Sorry guys! Where’s Patsy?” Delia asked exuberantly as she looked in all the rooms for the red head.

“You’ve just missed her, she went out looking pretty upset about something.” Barbara said, not looking Delia in the eye.

“Probably about the way you treated her.” Trixie said. “What!?” She exclaimed as Barbara gave a long pointed stare. “Well I’m not going to lie to Delia. You really hurt her earlier, she’s been moping around ever since – hasn’t properly spoken to either of us.”

Delia looked shame faced as she realised what she had done. Grabbing her phone out of her pocket she dialled Patsy’s number, it kept ringing but eventually went to answerphone. 

Delia was being ignored.

 

>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<

 

Patsy had been walking around for what felt like hours but she eventually made it into a quaint little pub, there was hardly anyone in there – just a few old men and two young looking women sat in the far corner. 

She made her way over to the barman, slapping down a £20 on the counter and ordering a large red wine. She looked around the pub and saw a table free that was next to the women, it didn’t have a chair but Patsy was sure that if she asked nicely that she would be able to nick the spare one from their table.

She walked quickly over there and gestured to the chair. “Would it be alright for me to steal this, it’s just that there isn’t a chair for that table.” 

The brown haired one nodded, before hesitating. “Well if you wanted to you could always sit with us, we could use some extra company. Newly weds can get sick of eachother as well you know!” She jibed at the other girl who laughed in return, obviously besotted. 

“Only if you’re sure. I don’t want to third wheel with you two! I’m Patsy by the way.” She said as she sat down and put her wine glass on the table. 

“Hello Patsy! I’m Steph and this is Grace.” She said, gesturing to the red head who was sat next to her. 

Grace waved in reply and took a sip of her beer as Steph began to tell Patsy all about how they had met and gotten together. Five glasses of wine and two large whiskies later and Patsy was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, made worse for the fact that she hadn’t properly gotten drunk like that for months. 

Grace eventually stood up, bringing Steph with her. Patsy was clearly very drunk and they couldn’t leave her there in that state in a pub that she probably wouldn’t end up getting home from. Grabbing an arm each they hauled Patsy up against her protests and took her back to the halls. 

“Th-thanks you guys.” Patsy said, trying her hardest to speak normally. Grave looked at her and smiled weakly. 

“Did I hear you say the name Delia earlier?” She said looking at Patsy who looked at the floor. They all stopped and stood for a moment whilst they waited for Patsy’s answer.

“I don’t remember, why?” She asked although she could very vividly recall that name leaving her lips by accident as they sat in the pub discussing something completely different.

“Would this be a Miss Delia Busby by any chance?” She heard Steph say from behind her.

Patsy spun around quickly to face Steph, eyes wide as she realised what she had heard. “How do you know Delia?” She asked quickly, shocked at the coincidence. 

“Let’s just say I’ve known her for a very long time and we encountered her earlier, she was upset about what had happened between type two. In fact I think that she was coming to see you after she had spoken to us.” Grace said, exchanging a look with Steph behind Delia.

Patsy couldn't believe that she had met the two women who knew Delia as well, she walked in a confused daze as she heard Grace and Steph discussing something about their work over the top of her head.

Finally they got to the rooms, they walked upstairs in silence and exchanged a quick hug outside the room. A quick promise to add on Facebook and meet up at another point and then it was time for Patsy to see what was waiting for her behind the door.

As she opened it she was hit with a wave of Delia’s fury. She stood up as Patsy walked in and her expression turned from nervous to angry.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Delia spat in Patsy’s direction. “I was worried. Trixie and Barbara said that you just walked off earlier and no one had seen you since.”

“Well that makes a change, doesn’t it.” Patsy snapped back. “You’ve ignored me for the past couple of days and suddenly you’re keeping tabs on where I’m going? You aren’t my mother Delia, thank God.” 

You told me not to fucking go near you.” Delia hissed at the equally furious woman.

“At what point did I tell you to not go near me, to fucking ignore me to the point that I wasn’t sure if we were even friends anymore. I never said that and you know it.”

Delia did know it and she had the decency to look shame faced as Patsy stared her down. “I was just worried about you.” She said at last, not able to look the taller woman in the face.

“Well I don’t need your worry Delia, and I certainly don’t need you to do whatever the fuck this is. What happened to Lily?” And with that, Patience Mount stormed into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. 

Fuck Delia and her mind games.

“I don’t want Lily.” Delia said quietly, “I want you.”

And with that she left, unsure as to whether what had just happened could be fixed.

Or whether the relationship was damaged beyond repair.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh guys here you go.
> 
> Quick warning, don't watch Beauty and the Beast with your dad and get really excited about the gay character because it leads to your dad finding out about you being gay. Lol rip "no it's not a phase thank you very much." It's been a very eventful weekend so let's channel the stress into fic writing wooo!!
> 
> (Many thanks to ctm_pupcake & greenisnotacreativecolour you're both stars and you've helped me so much. AND OF COURSE THE GC, love4ever) XXXX
> 
> Here you go anyways I hope you enjoy. It's not the end yet though!! ;)) XX

There was no point, no point in any of it. After shutting herself in her bedroom Patsy sat on her bed, head in hands letting the warm tears fall down her face onto the floor. Even after everything, her Mother and sister, Danielle and now this, Patsy was still letting herself fall into heartbreak. It was unavoidable, inevitable and it seemed to follow her wherever she went.

If she had listened closely, maybe lingered at her door for a few seconds, head against the wood. She might have heard Delia’s whispered words and they might have attempted to fix the shattered relationship that seemed broken beyond repair. But she didn’t and so that was how Patience Mount found herself in bed with her music blasting out of her headphones to try and stop the bleak cloud that was swirling around in her brain.

She couldn’t stop crying, it came to the point where she began to feel hysterical, shoulders shaking, large juddering sobs that seemed to fill the dead air around her and felt like they would never end. Patsy thought that she must have been laying there for hours and it was only when she stopped crying enough to lean up and stretch her tired muscles, that she realised just how late it was. 

Her music was still playing as she pulled the headphones out of her ears and sat up to look at the time. Patsy groaned quietly when she saw the time, two o clock in the morning and she still felt wide awake even though she hadn’t slept at all. Patsy’s mind was racing, Delia was all she could think about and the thought of another woman, Lily, with her hands all over Delia’s body made her feel physically sick.

Never mind the fact that it had all been fucked up now anyway, Delia would never talk to her again after the way Patsy had treated her. To be perfectly honest Patsy didn’t blame her but neither of them were innocent in this whole situation and neither of them had any idea what would happen next. 

It was a fitful night’s sleep, Patsy tossed and turned for the remainder of the night until her alarm finally rang signalling yet another day of lectures and the reminder of that she didn’t and couldn’t have Delia. She completed the mundane tasks of getting out of bed, washing and dressing, with a mindless ease. It didn’t require any thinking and that was probably for the best, if she could have done Patsy would have probably scrubbed the whole kitchen clean until her hands were red raw and her face hurt from the constant flow of tears but she couldn’t, she didn’t have time and so that was how Patience Elizabeth Mount found herself on a very brisk walk to the lecture hall. If she could perhaps shake off any of her emotions from last night then she might stand a chance of actually making it inside.

Then all at once Patsy was outside the hall, she inhaled a breath of air before pushing all her fears aside and walking in as quickly as she could. Luckily her usual spot at the back was free so she sat down and tried to avoid eye contact with everyone who walked into the hall, lest it be Delia. Finally, after half an hour of staring blankly at her phone she saw the professor walk in, and yet when she looked around the room she couldn’t spot Delia anywhere.

Two hours was far too long to stare around in a silent panic, as upset as Patsy was about everything that had happened, she did still care about Delia and it was unlike her to miss one of these lectures.

Eventually it ended and Patsy was able to leave, she grabbed her notes and practically ran back to her room where she sat on her bed in despair. Patsy always tried to block everything out, pretend that it hadn’t happened because that was what she did best. 

Maybe it was time to change that though, maybe it was time to explain to Delia what had happened and why it was so hard for her to hold on.

Delia deserved that.

And so that was how Patience Mount found herself standing outside Barbara and Delia’s room and that was how she found herself knocking quietly on the door, half hoping she would open it and half hoping she wouldn’t because Patsy was scared. She was scared of explaining and scared of letting her feelings out.

But it wasn’t Delia who opened the door, it was Barbara. In fact, it was Barbara with a very nervous expression her face which only got worse when she saw Patsy at the door. 

“Oh hello Patsy, I was wondering whether Delia was with you. She hasn’t been back at all and her phone is switched off but I assumed she was with you. Have you not seen her?”

The questions were coming thick and fast towards Patsy and it took her a moment to comprehend all that Barbara was saying to her. “Hang on wait Delia isn’t here? I saw her last night, we had an argument but that’s the last time I saw her. She wasn’t at the lecture that’s why I came round, to see if she was alright.”

Barbara’s expression became even more nervous and Patsy could feel her breakfast, hot and heavy in the bottom of her stomach. She turned around and dashed into Trixie’s room without knocking, nearly in tears at what she had just discovered. Trixie sat up in shock and watched as Patsy nearly collapsed on her bed in her haste and upset. She could hardly get the words out, her throat felt choked up and she could hear herself hyperventilating. Patsy was never like this, she was controlled and calm and reserved and yet she was hysterical, worried for Delia, years of pain and anguish being released all at once.

Trixie consoled her for a few minutes before pulling Patsy up to look her in the eyes. “You need to go and find Delia, Barbara and I will follow you but at this point it needs to be you. Go and find her."

Patsy sat up, wiping her face clean of tears, sniffing a little and then giving Trixie a little half smile. “Thank you Trix. I’ll see you later.” Patsy got up and rushed out of the room, grabbing her phone from her pocket simultaneously and dialling Delia’s number. 

It was ringing so it was definitely on but there was no answer, whether Delia was ignoring everyone or it was just on silent was debatable. Patsy ran around the entire campus, searching in every spot she could think of and yet Delia was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she’d vanished off the face of the earth, the only other place Patsy could think of was a place she really didn’t want Delia to be.

She knew when she got to the building that Delia was inside, as weird as it sounded Patsy could just tell. It physically pained her to think about that girl with her hands all over Delia’s body. ‘Lilly’ Patsy spat inside her head, stupid name. It didn’t even fit with Delia, Delia was just beautiful and funny and lovely and genuine and Patsy couldn’t believe that she had been stupid enough to let her go.

Shutting Delia out was the worst decision Patsy had ever made.

It was then that Patsy watched the side door open and watched Delia walk out, Lilly didn’t follow her so she assumed that Delia had stayed the night and escaped later than she expected to, what Patsy didn’t expect to happen was for Delia to turn around and look her dead in the eyes. The shock on her face was enough for the both of them but Patsy was sure that she looked just as stunned, the ‘rabbit in the headlights’ phrase was particularly relevant at that moment.

Patsy couldn’t stand there and look at Delia for much longer, she walked briskly over to her and smiled. “Hello Delia, look I think we need to talk is that alright?” She didn’t wait for an answer but instead moved quickly over to a desolate park bench that Patsy had seen whilst she was searching for Delia.

“I wanted to say I was sorry. For ignoring you and everything that I’ve done over the past few weeks, I’ve been unacceptable and I can’t apologise enough for that. I think you deserve an explanation as to why I shut you out, why I shut everyone out."

Delia sat unblinking, waiting.

“It was seven years ago, we were travelling on the motorway to get to Reading. I think we were visiting my godmother but the details of that trip are still a little hazy. Anyway, we were following the speed limit and then suddenly there was nothing. Just black, all of it. I could hear my mother screaming my name but I couldn’t reply, it was as though something was restricting me and then I couldn’t hear anything. I woke up a month later, my Father was sat by my bed, head in hands. He told me a week later that it was only me and him, that my sister had sustained serious head injuries when the lorry had hit them side on. My mother had died instantly from the impact, it was a miracle that both my father and I had survived considering the wreck that was the car after the accident.”

At this Patsy broke down in tears only to have Delia wrap her solid, warm arms around her shoulders and murmur words into her ear. Trying to console her and stop the pain that Patsy had gone through and was going through every day. 

“And that’s why. That’s why I can’t get too close to anyone, because I’m scared. I’m scared of losing you and I’m scared of losing myself. That’s already happened once and I can’t go through it again.” Patsy sat up and wiped away her tears.

“So I’m sorry Delia, but you deserve the truth and you deserve to be happy. So you need to be with Lilly and you need to tell her you love her and make sure you’re thinking of her in everything you say and do.”

“Patsy, did you just quote that song to attempt to be inspirational and liberating? Because it didn’t work.”

Patsy couldn’t stop herself crying at this point, especially when Delia started as well.

“You fool.” Delia whispered as she leaned closer in Patsy, and then closer again.

Suddenly Patsy felt Delia’s warm lips on her own. Tears fell and tasted of salt, mingled together it seemed as though they were never ending and yet it was perfect. 

The whole moment was perfect.

“Now Pats.” Delia said once they’d broken apart. “Will you still love me tomorrow?”

“How long have you waited to say that?” Patsy asked.

“Far too long.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. This was a majorly hard chapter to write and you should see why in the minute! :((
> 
> I'm actually not too sure about this update, there are so many amazing writers on here and I can't compete!!
> 
> Anyway read on, see what you think and please don't kill me!!! XXX

It seemed cheesy but it wasn’t perfect, they were sat outside a building where Delia had just spent the night with a girl that she wished she hadn’t. It was a mistake. 

In fact the mistake became even more apparent when Delia noticed the side door of the building open and a very upset and probably angry Lily came running out.  


She was headed straight for Patsy.

“Why the fuck are you kissing my girlfriend?” She said immediately, even Patsy was taken aback at the forthright words that were coming out of her mouth.

“Hang on, you two are dating?” Patsy said, with audible surprise, looking at Delia with her eyebrows raised. “I thought you were just seeing each other.”

Lily sneered at Patsy, an ugly, cold stare that made her facial features distort into a grimace. “Well we are dating. We don’t just sleep around whenever we feel like it. Now if you’d like to get the fuck away from us that would be great. Thanks.” Lily stormed off, turning around suddenly when she realised Delia wasn’t following at her heel.

“Delia?” She said expectantly, suddenly looking worried as Delia didn’t respond or walk towards her. Suddenly her features twisted again and she pointed a long, manicured finger in turn to the both of them. “Fine, stay here with this ginger bitch and don’t come running back to me because I sure as hell don’t want you.”

Delia stood stock still, as though she was frozen between Lily and Patsy. Lily huffed and walked off, practically running in her haste to get away from the other two girls. 

It was then that Delia realised what she had to do, flashing a very apologetic look at Patsy she ran after Lily. Patsy’s shoulders dropped when she realised what Delia had done, it was time to go back to her flat and try and forget about everything that she had felt about the shorter brunette.

It would never happen anyway. 

\---------

In reality, Delia was running after Lily to tell her that they were over, finished and there had never been anything between them in the first place. 

She didn’t see the car as she ran across the road. 

\--------

Patsy didn’t see it happen, but she sure as hell heard it. The piercing scream wasn’t hard to miss and the car’s brakes as it squealed to a stop seemed to be imprinted in her memory. Everything was happening in slow motion, Patsy froze as she watched it all unfold in front of her.  


It wasn’t the same. 

It wasn’t the same as what happened to them. 

It couldn’t be the same. 

It couldn’t end like that. 

Suddenly she found herself running towards Delia and the driver, Delia was nearly underneath the car on her side. Luckily nothing appeared to be broken but Patsy could see the large scrapes on the sides of her legs. Delia’s long brown hair was lying on the pavement, her fringe askew.

Her eyes were closed and she looked almost peaceful, as though she had fallen asleep on the pavement. The driver was inconsolable, almost crying at what he thought he had done. Patsy would have reassured him but she was too focused on what had happened to Delia, fingers shaking she phoned the emergency services. 

It was a long fifteen minutes of waiting. Patsy wanted to sit with Delia but her mind kept flashing back to the blackness in her mind and the emptiness in her heart after she had heard about her mother and sister.  


It was all happening again. And Patsy was powerless to stop it, there was nothing she could do but stand and wait, heart in her mouth, not daring to touch Delia in case something else bad happened.

It was like everything she touched turned to dust.

Finally she saw the familiar blue flashing lights of the ambulance, she watched in shock as they carefully checked Delia over and then lifted her on a stretcher into the vehicle. Almost in tears Patsy climbed in afterwards, she zoned out, not listening to the paramedic who looked at her in concern and offered her several pieces of utterly useless advice. 

Delia was sat in front of her, still unconscious. She looked paler and all Patsy wanted to do was grab her hand and reassure her that everything was going to be alright but she couldn’t. She physically couldn’t. It was a long journey to the hospital and as soon as they got there Delia was whisked away in a crowd of Junior Doctors and Nurses, behind a lilac curtain that did absolutely nothing for the privacy of the patients.

Patsy could hear them, “5mg of morphine, suture kit.” These words were ringing around on her brain as she desperately tried to do herself imagining what was going on behind the curtain. Perhaps the injuries weren’t as bad as Patsy thought they were.

Perhaps Delia was absolutely fine. 

It was a good hour of waiting until Patsy saw the first Doctor emerge from behind the curtain, ripping off his latex gloves and putting them in the bin placed conveniently next to him. He saw Patsy waiting and walked briskly over, his attitude suggesting that perhaps it wasn’t as bad as she had initially feared.

“Are you the woman who came in with Miss Busby?” He asked quickly. 

“Yes I am, may I ask what is the extent of her injuries?” Patsy asked, trying to stop her voice from breaking.

“I’m afraid we are unable to reveal information about patients unless it’s to their next of kin. I’m Dr Keogh by the way.” He shook Patsy’s hand quite firmly, clipboard grasped in his other hand.

“Please! Can you at least tell me whether her injuries are serious? Can I see her?” The questions were flowing out of Patsy thick and fast, it appeared that her shock had dissipated and was being replaced quickly by worry.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I was just coming to ask you if you had any idea where Miss Busby’s parents are. The hospital has rung them several times but I believe they may have changed their phone number, there isn’t an address on there either.”

Patsy was confused, Delia had mentioned her parents several times and yet she had never told her any addresses or phone numbers. In fact, Patsy hadn’t seen Delia ring her parents at all since they had met. 

“We’ll keep searching, I’m sure we can dig something up. In the meantime I’m sure you can see Miss Busby.” 

And with that he walked away.

Patsy wasn’t sure if she was ready to see Delia. Her mind was racing, constantly flicking between images like a sudden slide show reflecting her life. She watched her mother laughing, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder, she watched her sister, her little sister as she propelled herself around the garden on her tricycle. 

Chubby toddler legs pulling herself over the bumpy grass. She watched every entire family Christmas that she’d ever had flash before her eyes until suddenly all she saw were the Christmases that Patsy and her Father had spent together. Sitting around the large 6 seated dining table in silence, pretending to enjoy themselves when really all Patsy had wanted to do was cry or scream or both.

Delia was behind the curtain, that unordinary NHS curtain that seemed to have Patsy’s entire future waiting on the other side of it. She pulled it back and was unprepared for what she saw. 

One of Delia’s legs had been bandaged up, looking strangely large compared to the other. Her arms were a mass of long scrapes and scratches and the occasional bruise that seemed to stand out, multi coloured against her skin. It was Delia’s face that really shocked Patsy though, her fringe had been scraped back off her face and there was a large cut on the side of her cheek. The redness of the cut contrasted majorly with the paleness of Delia’s skin.

She didn't look like Delia 

There was clearly no change since she had been in the ambulance, Patsy sat down and grabbed Delia’s hand, all she wanted to do was kiss her but it seemed so wrong whilst she was laying in a hospital bed. 

All of this was wrong.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter broke me a little writing it, Patsy's emotional state is a hard one to write!
> 
> I actually received a comment on my last chapter saying that this had been done too much and I actually want to thank whoever it was that said that. You've made me so much more determined to complete this and put my own twist on things.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this! And I'll see you on the other side;) XXXX

It was around about three o’clock in the morning before Patsy managed to collapse into her own bed at the university. Trixie and Barbara had been awake when she got in, both huddled together on the sofa, shrouded in blankets, each with a luke-warm coffee in their hands and several half-drunk mugs on the table in front of them.   
They both stood up as they heard Patsy let herself into the room, both with the same worried expression on their face. Trixie was the first to speak.

“Patsy? What’s happened? Someone came here earlier and said something about Delia being in hospital but they didn’t know anything else. Barbara and I have been up all night, where’s Delia?”

Patsy didn’t know what to say, her head was pounding and all she wanted to do was run straight back to the hospital to Delia. Although Patsy had been prepared to stay all night with Delia the Nurse on duty had eventually managed to convince her that it was no use sitting there, half asleep. That Delia would need her to be wide awake the next day and that no matter what, she would make sure that Delia was alright. That last sentence had been what convinced her to go back to Trixie and Barbara.  
“I really don’t know Trixie, if I’m completely honest with you. She didn’t seem to be too bad when I left but that could have changed by now.” Patsy ran her fingers through her uncharacteristically messy hair and looked at Trixie who stared back, eyes wide.

Barbara had remained silent up until this point but it appeared that she couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“So how has she actually ended up in hospital then, because you haven’t told us.”

Patsy stood up slightly taller, shocked at Barbara’s forthright tone. “She wasn’t looking where she was going, she ran across the road and got hit by a car. Is that enough for you?” Patsy, knew she sounded harsh but she couldn’t help it. The hours she had spent at the hospital had begun to take its toll on her and if she was completely honest all she wanted to do was escape from everyone and be by herself.

“Look you two, I don’t want to be rude but I’m extremely tired so I’m going to have a shower and then go to bed.” 

Patsy knew that they had stayed up to see her and hear how Delia was doing, but it had been Patsy sat there as the Nurses were shining a torch in Delia’s eyes, it was Patsy who had been there wondering what had happened to Delia’s parents and it was Patsy who had to watch Delia fall under that car. 

She got took off her clothes once she was in the bathroom, letting them drop to the floor in one pile. They smelt of hospitals, a smell that she didn’t want to be reminded of. It was only once she was in the shower that she let the tears fall onto the tiled floor, it was all so similar to what she had been through before, it seemed that her life was destined to be a repeat of that one dreadful accident. She scrubbed her body, trying to get rid of the cloying smell of hospitals that seemed determined to stay with her. Patsy went through the motions of shampooing and conditioning her hair, washing her face as best she could, to try and remove the mascara tear tracks that had made their way down her cheeks. 

Patsy made her way out of the shower, grabbing a towel as she did so. Everything seemed to take so much longer, time seemed to have slowed down as Patsy dried herself and put clean pyjamas on. It was only when she got into bed that her mind began to work, recalling every interaction that Patsy and Delia had had. She realised everything she could have said or done, anything that could have made this torture that she was going through, never happen.

So much left unsaid, so much left undone.

Patsy got out from under the covers and pulled out one of the boxes that resided underneath her bed. She hadn’t looked at it since she had arrived at the university, when she had decided that it was best to keep old memories in the past and attempt to shut it out. Patsy took a deep breath and opened the box, pulling out one of her mother’s old, long evening dresses. It was a deep blue colour and Patsy remembered when her Mother had bought it.

“I bought it because it reminded me of your eyes sweetheart.”

Her Mother had looked fondly at Patsy before taking her up into her arms and dancing around the bedroom humming a slow waltz. Patsy had giggled and tried to escape from her tight grasp, before running away to find her Father. He was different then, not the shell of the man that Patsy knew now.

She wiped away tears as she saw a folded dress, long and white. A christening dress. Her little sister’s christening dress. Her father had let Patsy take it with her to University, the memories were too painful for him. It was obvious to Patsy that she had taken after her father, they both found it so much easier to block everything out, every painful event, every hurtful memory. 

She took the dress out, unfolded it so that it fell to the floor, white lace brushing along the carpet. She bought the fabric up to her nose and fancied that she could still smell a trace of her baby sister, her sister that should still be alive. It killed Patsy to realise that she should be watching her little sister grow up, have the life that she should be living.   
She traced the pattern of the lace on the dress, spirals and flowers all interlinking to create the fabric. Patsy didn’t think that she would ever get over the pain of losing her Mother and sister, it was still too raw, too real. But maybe she didn’t want to get over it, it was what had made her who she was, it had shaped her personality and developed her relationships.

It was what she found next that really hit her hard though. Patsy hadn’t opened the box for years, trying not to let the demons out, the ones that thrust her into the dark place that she didn’t ever want to go near again. It was a surprise when she found the letter.

 

“My dear Patience,

I may be gone before you read this, perhaps you will have moved away, perhaps something will have happened. Time only knows what time will bring. I decided that you need a letter, one to tell you, explain to you, show you how much I love you, how much you mean to me.

You were three, the time you fell in the goldfish pond, the large one at the end of the garden. I was in the kitchen as I watched you plunge headfirst into it and all I can remember thinking is ‘what do I do?’ Luckily your father was round the corner gardening so he was able to pull you out, gasping for air, hair sopping wet and clothes stuck to you.

I remember shouting at you, not because I was angry but because I was scared, scared that if your Father hadn’t been there then I wouldn’t have got there quick enough. And yet the day you fell in the goldfish pond, I learnt something, I learnt to stop, that there is absolutely no point in the ‘what ifs’ because they didn’t happen and I learnt to appreciate every moment because you might not get another. 

Time goes quickly, my dear and you can’t stop it. No matter what goes wrong in your life, something will go right. Your future husband, or wife, will be treasured and loved and valued by us all, please don’t forget to show them that you love them.

Don’t waste time.

All my love Patience,

Mother.

 

Patsy dissolved into tears, clutching the letter tightly to her chest.

“Thank you.” She whispered, looking up.

“Thank you.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought that if I updated this again, it might make up for the lack of recent updates?;)
> 
> This seems quite short to me, and not particularly well written. But I just wanted to thank everyone for your support and lovely comments and just general amazingness, I don't know what I would do without this fandom, you've all helped so much and supported me in so many ways. SO after that little speech, I just wanted to say thank you. For everything.
> 
> (This fic isn't finished yet though, you haven't seen the last of me yet;)
> 
> Here you go! Enjoy and tell me what you think! XXXX
> 
> P.S This seems to be a chapter FULL of dialogue, I don't even know how I've managed that much of it://

Patsy woke up, light streaming through a crack in the curtains. She stretched her arms up and rubbed her eyes, focusing in on the bedroom around her. Patsy’s eyes fell to the floor, she hadn’t cleared away the box from last night and so it was all still over the carpet. It was still so raw, the letter had opened up fresh wounds and yet Patsy was glad that she had found it. She needed to have found that, it was as if it was meant for her at that exact point in time.

It contained perhaps, the best advice Patsy had ever got and would ever get. Despite her Mother not being with her, it seemed as though she had always been there, Patsy just hadn’t realised. In fact, Patsy felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, it was a strange feeling but suddenly everything seemed that little more hopeful.  
She got up and began to tidy away everything on her floor, folding up the dresses, putting everything back in the box, packing away her memories. Perhaps it was time to face up to everything, she needed to show Delia that she was there for her and that she was ready to support her.

Patsy got washed and dressed before grabbing some toast, she made two cups of coffee and walked into Trixie’s bedroom.

“Oh!” She saw two figures lying on the bed, one underneath and one on top. 

Trixie and Barbara.

“Huh?” Trixie sat up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she saw Patsy stood there, mouth open. She sat up quickly and shook Barbara awake.

“It’s not what it looks like, we were both upset last night and Barbara didn’t want to go back to her flat without Delia being there.”

Patsy nodded, a small half smile playing on her lips. She set the coffee down on the sideboard and walked out of the room before calling over her shoulder.

“I’m going to the hospital to see Delia, are you coming to see her later?” She turned round to look at Trixie and Barbara who were both sat up.

“Definitely, we’ll come to the hospital later.” Trixie replied.

Patsy shrugged on her coat and put on her shoes. “There’s toast on the counter if you want it.” She called as she grabbed her keys and phone and walked out the door. She made her way briskly to the hospital, nerves churning in her stomach. Patsy practically ran down the corridor of the hospital to get to Delia, stopping in her tracks when she saw an older woman sat next to her bed. 

Delia was awake.

She didn’t see Patsy at first, she was too busy focusing everything she had onto the woman who wouldn’t stop talking next to her.

“Delia, cariad I can’t leave you here like this, you need to come back to Pembrokeshire with us.” 

“No, I’m not going back to Pembrokeshire.” Delia said firmly. “I’ve made it this far, I’m not moving back in with you. Besides, I’ve not hurt myself that badly.”

“You’re sat in a hospital bed, with me sat next to you. Be thankful that you haven’t hurt yourself that badly but to be honest Delia, I can’t leave you here alone again, look what happened when I did.” Patsy was still stood there, listening to the woman who appeared to be Mrs Busby, attempt to instruct Delia on what she had to do. Suddenly Mrs Busby turned around and saw Patsy standing there looking at them both.

“Excuse me, who are you?” She questioned, confused at the tall red head who was stood there watching her and Delia.

There was a couple of minutes of silence until Delia realised that Patsy had frozen, she was still staring at the two of them. “Mam, that’s Patsy.”

“Patsy? Oh of course is this the girl you mentioned on the phone?”

Delia’s face turned red. “I told her about everyone, it wasn’t just you.” She explained more to herself than Patsy.

“That’s enough about me.” Patsy said. “What have the doctors said to you?”

“I’ve broken my leg quite severely, there was a worry of brain damage but I can remember everything and they’ve done some scans that appear to be fine.”

“Thanks be to God.” Patsy heard Mrs Busby mutter under her breath.

“So you are staying here then?” Patsy asked, pretending that she hadn’t heard the previous conversation between Delia and Mrs Busby.

“Yes.”

“No.” Delia and Mrs Busby said at the same time.

“Mam I’m not a child anymore, all I’ve got is a broken leg, they’ll give me crutches and life can go on as normal. I’m sorry to say this but I’m not coming back to live with you and Dad.”

Mrs Busby looked at Patsy who looked at the ground, a subtle way of saying she agreed with Delia. 

“I need to speak to your Father about this, I don’t agree with it at all.” Mrs Busby’s feelings were made perfectly clear in front of Patsy, she wasn’t sure whether Delia would hold her ground but whatever happened Patsy wasn’t prepared to lose Delia.

“I think I need a coffee.” Mrs Busby said, patting Delia on the shoulder as she got up. Patsy smiled as she walked past but received a tight lipped grimace in return. Delia looked up at Patsy and smiled, patting the seat next to her in a quick motion.

“So what’s been going on whilst I’ve been in here?” Delia asked, staring at Patsy who seemed determined to not look at her.

“Not much at all, Trixie and Barbara said they’d come and visit you later but apart from that I haven’t heard of anything.”

“Oh, well I was rather hoping that you might have some good gossip to keep me entertained but I guess not.” Delia actually looked upset from this, clearly hoping that Patsy would be able to distract her.

“Have you heard from Lily?” Patsy said suddenly, “I didn’t tell her what had happened but I guessed that she would have found out, somehow it’s spread around that you’re in here. I’ve never heard anyone so talked about Miss Busby!” She was obviously trying to put on her comedy façade, trying to jolly it up but in actual fact, Patsy was hoping and praying with every fibre of her being that Lily hadn’t been to see Delia.

“Yes she has been to see me, just before you arrived actually. You must have missed her as you came in, she was beside herself, kept crying and saying it was her fault.”  


Patsy nodded, trying not to look as though she agreed too much. 

“She also apologised, said that she shouldn’t have said those things to me. Asked whether there was any chance of us getting back together.”

“And you said?”

“I said no.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right okay I'm shit I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long BUT FINALLY I'M HERE AND HAVE A CHAPTER IT'S AWFUL BUT HEY, I'VE FINALLY UPDATED;)
> 
> Well here you go, enjoy hopefully. Literally nothing really happens in this one but take a look and see what you think and please, pleeease let me know because I'm extremely insecure and unmotivated okay there.
> 
> [Sidles off to go and read all the other amazing fics I've neglected since I haven't been on here properly for like two months.]

Patsy tried to stop the smile spreading over her face but it proved impossible, Delia thankfully didn’t notice. She was far too busy being preoccupied by the arrival of both Trixie and Barbara and her mother, who looked less than impressed about the cup of coffee she was carrying.

“Delia?” The confusion on Trixie’s face was evident as the two girls pulled the regulation hospital curtain back to see the smaller brunette lying in the bed in obvious pain. Her broken leg was propped up and scratches on the side of her face all the more vivid in the light that spread across the bed from the large onset window at the end of the ward. 

“It’s a lot better than it looks, I assure you of that.” Delia said, looking at each if the girls in turn. “I’m not in any pain so don’t start fussing, I should be home later today or possibly tomorrow.”

Mrs Busby huffed but remained silent, Patsy looked over at the older woman whose downcast expression revealed all of her inner emotions. Mrs Busby clearly wanted Delia to bend against her will and return home to Wales but that wouldn’t happen. Patsy knew Delia couldn’t just leave, as much as her dominant mother wanted her to. 

Patsy saw Trixie and Barbara exchange a look. “So Delia, Trixie and I were thinking – “

“We’ve been to see the accommodation office and they’ve allowed me and you to swap rooms, that is if you want to. We just thought that you might be a little more comfortable and Patsy said she’s happy to help with anything because obviously your leg but if you don’t want to it’s absolutely fine, just an idea.” Trixie was rambling, she did stop talking however, when she saw the smile spread across Delia’s face and the slight blush across Patsy’s cheeks.

“Oh that’s lovely thank you, just as long as you don’t mind though. Are you sure you and Barbara can stand staying in such close proximity to each other?” Delia said with a grin. 

“We will manage just fine thank you Delia.” Trixie retorted. “I’m sure you and Patsy will be getting along even better as well.” 

The blush in Patsy’s cheeks was all the more evident now, as much as she liked to think that Trixie meant nothing by the remark it was obvious that she did. Patsy watched out of the corner of her eye as Delia looked up to see her reaction before looking at her mother who looked unbothered by the whole discussion.

“Well I’m glad that’s sorted out then, we can move all your belongings into the other room before you get out of here.” Barbara said, finally breaking the slightly awkward silence that had settled around everyone. 

Patsy was still busy glaring at Trixie but she nodded all the same at Barbara’s plan, it would only take an hour or so to sort out Delia’s minimal belongings and swap them with Trixie’s. Just as long as Trixie didn’t take forever to pack up the ridiculous amount of clothes she had bought with her, honestly Patsy didn’t understand how she could fill up a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and then still have piles of clothes around the room where she couldn’t fit it all in.

“Well then, I guess we better get going if Trixie has any chance of moving her clothes before you get home. Will you call when you get discharged? I’ll come and help you, if you want it.” Patsy said, looking at Delia.

“Of course, it’ll take you years to move that lot. Well Mam is here, but if it’ll make you feel better then yes I will call you. It might take us a while to get anywhere though like this.” She warned whilst grinning, gesturing to her leg which was shrouded in plaster.

Patsy laughed and nodded before turning around to follow Trixie and Barbara who had already began to walk towards the exit, she had to jog slightly to catch up before turning around to see Mrs Busby staring angrily at Delia. 

“That fucking woman.” She whispered under her breath as she watched Delia stare down her mother who continued to try and convince Delia that she would be best to return to Wales. Patsy couldn’t hear what was being said but judging by Delia’s death staring and vigorous shaking of her head, it appeared she had already made her decision.

“Come on Patsy!” She heard Barbara call from ahead, she gave one final look at Delia before turning to catch up with the other two girls. It was a brisk walk back to the rooms in the cold but as soon as they got there, cleaning ensued. Trixie and Barbara managed to pack up all of Trixie’s clothes in record time whilst Patsy worked on Delia’s room. Methodically folding each item of clothing and placing in the boxes she had set out on the floor.

It didn’t take long to work through everything, it was only once she set out to remove the bedding that she saw the forgotten pair of pyjamas that Delia had taken from her, tucked under the pillow. She smiled at the memory before folding them and removing the duvet from the bed, ready to take into the other room.

Eventually Barbara and Trixie finished, it had taken them considerably longer but once they had swapped everything over it was much easier to manage, all that was required was unpacking the belongings in the respective rooms. Patsy did that with ease and eventually settled down in Trixie and Barbara’s room with a large glass of wine and a tub of chocolate ice cream.

“Chocolate ice cream? Jesus Christ people actually eat that stuff? Vile.” Trixie said, coming up behind Patsy and sitting next to her.

“Wait. You’ll eat pineapple on pizza and yet you won’t touch this? Weirdo.” Patsy retorted, sticking the spoon in, waving it in Trixie’s face and then consuming it in one mouthful. “It’s delicious, you just don’t appreciate fine cuisine.” She said after she’d swallowed the ridiculously large quantity of ice cream she’d put on the spoon to prove Trixie wrong.

“Three words. Pineapple on pizza. Now that is fine cuisine, I bet you’ve just never tried an actual nice pizza with that on it.” Trixie remarked, watching as Patsy took another large spoonful of the ice cream and ate it quickly. 

“No, you’re right I probably haven’t. Because it’s absolutely fucking disgusting, I refuse to even entertain the idea of eating it.” Patsy stated firmly.

Perhaps not firmly enough though as she found herself ten minutes later, watching Trixie remove the pizza from the oven with a flourish. Patsy took one bite, grimaced, nearly spat it out before remembering her manners and took a large gulp from the glass of wine next to her.

“Yep, just as disgusting as I remember. Enjoy that whilst I finish this ice cream to get rid of the awful taste that’s now in my mouth.” 

It was then that Barbara came out of the bedroom, spotted the pizza and took a large slice. “Oh my favourite! Whoever made this is literally my hero right now, I’m starving.” 

Patsy looked on in horror as both girls managed to finish the pizza between them. “Great, now I’m outnumbered by you two. So weird.”

Barbara looked over at Patsy and said “Chocolate ice cream. Eugh.” Immediately receiving a high five from Trixie in return.

Patsy took another large sip of wine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who actually eats chocolate ice cream? Asking for a friend;)


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah okay it’s been a while, I’ve finally written this and although it may not make much sense it feels so good to get back into writing again so here we are.
> 
> It’s been an extremely long year, a lot happening and not enough time to do it. I have however made some amazing friends and I found this site and this community and you are all so lovely and welcoming and positive so thank you.
> 
> This chapter isn’t really a long one, but it does go into some depth so I very much hope you enjoy it and I’ll see you on the other side. Now, please excuse me whilst I go and read the 10 million chapters I need to catch up on.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and please leave a comment to let me know what you think. I need motivation!!❤️

Time had passed, a week in fact and although Delia had struggled in the beginning it began to get easier, for both her and Patsy. Trixie and Barbara seemed to get along fine, sharing a room had clearly brought the two girls closer than ever and their friendship seemed strengthened in some way. They were always round at Patsy and Delia’s room, willing to lend a hand or share a bottle of wine, some perhaps more willing than others to have the wine.

It had been strange for Patsy and Delia to be living in such close proximity, it was never awkward just kind of, strange. Of course it was easier now Mrs Busby had gone, she had left Delia reluctantly and made her promise to call every day. Patsy was of course, expected to give regular updates as to Delia’s condition under Mrs Busby’s strict instructions. Delia was practically pushing her Mother out of the door with her crutch, she was so hesitant to leave.

Eventually though, she left. Patsy was no longer under her scrupulous eye and it was for that very reason that she could finally relax and not feel as though she should check up on Delia every minute as if she was an incapable infant. Mrs Busby had that effect on people. Namely on Patsy, who felt that she was under inspection for every little thing that she did. As a matter of fact, she was, for Mrs Busby wasn’t about to leave her daughter in the hands of a kind but incompetent young woman, as much as Delia liked Patsy. This was why Patsy found herself being cross examined from every angle about her future career, her hobbies and even her family.

Delia’s accident had left everyone feeling quite unsettled as, although her injuries were considered to be minor ones, all Patsy could think of was “what if it had been so much worse?” She knew that was irrational, that it hadn’t been so much worse so she should stop worrying and yet it seemed to torment her constantly – the fear of the unknown and yet it wasn’t the fear of the unknown because Delia was fine and there were no complications and the only problems she would have would be to try and hobble around on crutches for the next few weeks and Patsy was just panicking and there was no need to panic she just needed to calm herself down but that was almost impossible because it felt like she couldn’t breathe and the deep breaths she was trying to do weren’t helping and she didn’t know what to do with herself so she just had to shakily walk over to the bed and sit down and make herself calm down. 

She eventually managed to compose herself before standing up and walking out of her room. She was thankful that Delia hadn’t seen anything, that would only lead to sympathy and that was the last thing that Patsy wanted. She didn’t deal very well with sympathy and she hated pity, the concern in their voices that sounded faker with every syllable and the glances that went on when they thought she wasn’t looking. But she was looking, and no glance or softly spoken word went unnoticed.

Patsy could never forget the funeral. As soon as she was walked into the church she could see them. Sitting in the front row. Her mother had never liked the Bowens, they acted as though they were above everyone, as though their wealth compensated for their horrible attitudes. It was always best to just ignore them, then they wouldn’t have anyone to show off to but in that instant she could feel all the anger and hidden emotion bubbling up inside of her.  


How dare they sit in the front row, pretending to mourn with those crocodile tears when they’d never so much as exchanged a kind word with her Mother let alone her sister. What upset Patsy even more was the fact that some of their closest family friends were stood at the back of the church because of the lack of seats. Patsy had been ready to march up to the two imposters when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder preventing her from moving any further forward. Turning around, she looked into the eyes of her father who gave a small shake of his head at Patsy. 

It was at that moment that Patsy remembered where she was and although she had stopped believing in God a long time ago, she was still in a holy place and for that very reason she would have to grin and bear it because that’s what her Mother would have told her to do.  


She wasn’t about to let the Bowens get away with it though, which is why she found herself after the service encouraging her three year old cousin to stick the lump of mud in Mrs Bowen’s handbag whilst she wasn’t looking. 

The scream was worth it.

From that point onwards, life was never the same for Patsy. She had to learn who to trust. Family didn’t come first, that was evident as the first chance her father got she was shipped off to boarding school. The girls were nice enough, but she never really had a close friend which was perhaps part of the reason why she was so private in her adult life. It had always been hard for Patsy to make friends the thought of sharing her secrets or letting someone into her personal life was something extremely challenging for her, she didn’t like to talk about her feelings. 

Crying was almost unheard of in the Mount residence, it wasn’t encouraged and neither Patsy or her sister ever cried in front of their parents. They would have never received any sympathy or coddling from anyone, it was easier to save the tears for the pillow – not that Patsy ever did.

That was the reason why she hardly showed any emotion, or at least she always tried to prevent showing any emotion. Obviously sometimes it was all too much, but for Patsy that was a rare occasion and if it was possible to stop, then she would. 

“Patsy?” 

Patsy looked up from her daydream to see Delia staring at her with a concerned look. It didn’t seem to be fake though, she seemed genuinely concerned.

“You’ve been standing there for quite a while, is everything okay?” Delia said.

“Yes, yes everything is just fine. You, however, need to sit down and rest because you’ve only been out of hospital for a week and I don’t intend on taking you back there because you’ve been stupid and haven’t listened to me which will then incur the wrath of your mother. Please sit down.” Patsy said, pushing Delia gently into the chair.

“Yes Nurse Mount.” Delia teased, saluting her as she sat down.

“Cup of tea?” Patsy said, Delia nodded. “Good.” 

And that was that.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it’s been a while. 
> 
> I’ve actually had this chapter written for months but never posted it due to confidence reasons and just generally thinking it was terrible. I just decided tonight that maybe I should post it, I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? It’s a pretty short chapter but I wanted to split it into two so it wasn’t too long, plus I love sort-of cliffhangers hahaha
> 
> I’m right in the middle of exam season so the stress has hit which I guess is why I’ve posted this. Mostly because it’s better than revising yknow. Although, anything is better than revising if we are honest.
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you like it. Please drop a comment down below because it’ll motivate me (hopefully). Plus I’m just really anxious and I feel like everything I write is cringey and rubbish whoops. 
> 
> Yep so here you go, sorry it’s taken so long:).

A month passed, and then two and then three. All speeding by in quick succession, not allowing Patsy or Delia any change in the “will they won’t they” relationship that seemed to haunt both of them. 

And everyone else for that matter. 

Both Trixie and Barbara were frustrated by the lack of action between the two girls, so much so that they often made subtle jibes towards both Patsy and Delia. These pointed remarks about the lack of outward romance were met with raised eyebrows and tight smiles and more often than not, a brief look shared by Patsy and Delia that seemed to say so much more than words could. These glances didn’t go unnoticed however, and Trixie could only see her obviously infatuated friends dance around each other for so long before she decided to take matters into her own hands.

It was time to send Patsy and Delia on a date. 

The plan was well into action by the time Patsy got home from work. Delia was unaware of anything going on in the apartment after being shut into her room by Trixie earlier in the day, Trixie had felt momentarily bad before remembering that this was for the greater good – if anyone was going to survive till the end of the year with their sanity still intact. Barbara had been flapping around all afternoon not doing much. She was a sweet girl, decided Trixie but when you really needed anything to get done you couldn’t really rely on her. The excitement was obviously too much for her. No, it was up to Trixie to get this all sorted. “As usual”. The bitter thought vanished as soon as it appeared however, as the excitement of the decorating took over. 

Eventually, Trixie stood back and looked at her handiwork. The whole accommodation had been completely transformed, making it seem as though four students hadn’t been living in there for the whole year – perhaps one of the most impressive cleaning jobs of all time. Trixie felt at peace, she’d done everything she could and it was now time to face the music.

Literally.

Patsy inserted her key into the lock, fumbling around before she managed to open the door swinging her bag around her body as she did so. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sight before her but once she did, she gasped. Fairy lights adorned various corners of the room giving the whole space a soft, orange glow. The sofa had been moved right into the corner of the room and in the centre was a small table set with napkins and cutlery, seemingly, set for two. 

Patsy looked appraisingly at the sight before her before opening her bedroom door and dumping her bag on the floor. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she unlocked the screen to see 3 messages from Trixie.

Hope you enjoy your evening with Delia! ;) xx

Couldn’t stand to watch you two dance around each other any longer, sorry! ;) xx

P.S. don’t be awkward, just be natural. She obviously likes you. Xx

Patsy huffed at her phone, turning to sit on top of the bed before noticing a dress and a note that she hadn’t seen before. Well, the dress she had. The same emerald green flared dress she had worn months ago was carefully laid out with a necklace and pair of heels that annoyingly, complimented the dress perfectly. They were obviously Trixie’s. Patsy couldn’t imagine Barbara wearing anything other than the usual flat rubber soled shoes that she usually wore, no, Trixie’s dress sense was a lot more wild. Picking up the note she read it carefully, half frowning, half smiling at the cunning way that Trixie had planned the whole “date”. Despite the nervousness that began bubbling up inside of her, she felt a fizz of excitement at the prospect of sharing one whole, magical evening with Delia.

The girl who made her feel things that she never thought she would after Danielle. 

She refused to even taint her thoughts with Danielle, instead choosing to peel off her work jeans and tight t-shirt and slip on the soft, emerald green fabric that clung willingly to her body, highlighting the soft curves of her hips and breasts. She slipped the silver heels on her feet, wincing as they scraped along the not-yet heeled blisters that adorned her feet yet admiring the way that they made her look even taller and feel more confident. Patsy walked over to the mirror, looking at her reflection as she lay the necklace on the dresser and applied a coat of burgundy lipstick. She was just about to put the necklace on when a knock at the door stopped her. Suddenly she saw the small brunette bob her head around the door, eyes widening as she took in the sight before her. 

“Hi Patsy, I was just wondering what was going on with the table and the – oh!” The look of surprise on her face was evident and for a second Patsy wondered how someone could be so sweet and yet so clueless at the same time. 

“Oh hi Deels, I think this was Trixie’s idea. I just found a note instructing me on what to wear.” 

It was then that Delia fully entered the room and Patsy saw her dress, a knee length blue ensemble that hugged all the right curves.

“I got a little leeway in my clothes choice.” Delia admitted, laughing softly when she saw the look on Patsys face.

“May I?” She gestured to the necklace that lay abandoned on the dresser, Patsy gave a small nod, flinching a little when Delia’s soft fingers came into contact with her neck. She pushed all of Patsy’s hair to one side before untying the clasp with expertise and pulling it around her neck, leaving her fingers pressing gently into Patsy’s pulse point for just a little longer than was necessary.

“There, all done.” Delia said brightly, spinning Patsy around and tugging the necklace down slightly, skimming her fingers along the creamy skin of her collarbone before letting her hand fall back down to her side. 

The tension was palpable. 

Patsy eventually broke the spell, holding a hand out to Delia and leading her over to the table which now had the new addition of candles. There also seemed to be the faint sound of opera music coming from somewhere, however Patsy couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that that was down to Trixie. There were a few weirdos in the building who listened to opera willingly in a non romantic setting.

Weirdos. 

“Your chair madam?” Patsy said as she pulled the chair out for Delia. 

Delia nodded gracefully and proceeded to sit down, tucking her skirt underneath her as she pushed the chair further into the table. Patsy sat opposite, watching Delia carefully as their knees bumped underneath the table. She saw a faint blush appear across Delia’s cheeks before it spread down to her chest, emphasising the golden brown tan that Patsy so desperately wanted yet could never have. Or maybe Patsy didn’t want to look like Delia. Maybe she just wanted Delia.

Probably.

Definitely.


End file.
